How to Make Love a Way of Life

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Would you define love as a feeling? An action? Or is love a way of life?

Rev and I dated for three years before we got married. As less-than-prosperous students, we spent most of our time together walking and talking.

You would think that after all that time together, we would have known almost everything about each other. But as many of you have learned, living together provides a whole new level of knowing each other.

I learned which recipes were favorites and that the ones received with, “I’m not very hungry tonight,” were not. I learned how to use words and share my feelings quickly without holding them inside until they were expressed with frustration and tears.

Together, we learned that love is more than just a feeling. Love is a way of life.

John wrote…

We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments. … those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

1 John 2:3, 5–6

Knowing and loving God is to be our way of life. It is living and loving like Jesus.

How did Jesus love? Exactly the way Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 13…

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7

Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, was patient, kind, humble, honest, forgiving, faithful, and hopeful. That’s how we are taught to love one another. Not just the friends and family members we love, but the stranger on the street, the server at a restaurant, and the “representative” at the end of the phone tree.

Honestly, that list makes me squirm. I want to love like Jesus, but I know I don’t. So, I will repent yet again and ask Him to help me make love a way of life.

Jesus didn’t just love like that when He lived here on earth. He was and is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He loves you and me perfectly. And with His help, we can follow His example.

[You and] I can do all things through Christ who gives [us] strength. (Philippians 4:13)

Not perfectly this side of glory, but…

We can do better. Because when we focus on Jesus and make loving like Him our way of life, we make it our goal to love God and His people as He desires.

Let’s pray…

A Prayer to Make Love a Way of Life

Father, throughout Your Word, You tell us that You love us. You even sent Jesus to suffer the punishment we deserved to show us how much! You are LIFE and LOVE, and You want us to model Jesus and make love a way of life.

When we KNOW You, we want to please You by obeying Your commands. I want to obey You. I want to live as You command. I want to love like Jesus. I know I’m not consistent. I have people with whom I want to be loving and caring. But I admit I have times when I’m not as intentional as I should be. Please forgive me.

I want to be patient, kind, humble, honest, forgiving, faithful, and hopeful. Please help me and give me strength. I want people to KNOW that I love You because they see Jesus’ love in me. Please fill me with Your perfect love and help me make love a way of life. It’s so much more than a feeling; it’s the way I think, speak, and act.

By the power of Your Spirit, patient, kind, humble, honest, forgiving, faithful, and hopeful. Make me like Jesus. In whose name I pray. Amen.

One of the blessings of making love a way of life is that when we act with love, the feeling often follows!

I love Paul’s prayer…

I pray that from [the Father’s] glorious, unlimited resources, He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 

Ephesians 3:16–17

On our own, we can’t love like Jesus. But with the inner strength the Father gives through Jesus and His Spirit, we can have what we need to love as He commands.

Dwight Moody said it like this…

“Joy is love exalted; peace is love in response; long-suffering is love enduring; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love in tough situations; and temperance is love in training.”

When we’re exhausted and our patience is stretched thin. When loving feels hard … may we pause and pray. When we are sure we can’t, our Lord can. He has and He does.

And with Jesus’ love within us, we can surrender our feelings and make love a way of life.

God bless you and fill you with His love today and always.

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