Loving others God’s way (3)
2020-03-10Matthew 10:1 NCV
Let’s take another look at how Jesus loved the founders of the church, His twelve disciples. He recognised their gifts. He rejoiced in their successes. He supported and encouraged them to grow to their full potential. Jesus took the time to affirm people’s identity and encouraged them to do the things they’d been created to do. For example, He said to Peter: ‘So I tell you, you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not be able to defeat it’ (Matthew 16:18 NCV). He often pushed the disciples out of their comfort zones. He sent them out to do kingdom work and gave them the authority to heal and help people. The Bible says: ‘Jesus called his twelve followers together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness.’ Jesus didn’t need their help, but He wanted to get them involved. Are we willing to love others like that? Sometimes we want to do everything ourselves because we want to remain in control. Other times, we think it would just be much quicker to sort things out ourselves rather than involve other people. But if we want to love people well, we need to encourage them and give them opportunities to develop their God-given gifts. When we truly love someone, we won’t try to hold them back or try to control them because of our insecurities. We’ll recognise their gifting, help them become everything God called them to be, release them, and celebrate their successes with them. That’s how Jesus loved, so that’s how we should love too.