"Walk in the Love of God"

Jesus Is Love: Learning to Serve, Love, and Live Free

I’ve reached a point in my life where all I want to do is serve. That’s it. I don’t want to sit in the judgment seat, weighing people’s mistakes. I want to serve the least of them. Because Jesus said, “When you have done it unto the least of them, you’ve done it unto Me.”

This thing is personal for Him. And I’ve learned: you can’t love God and not love your brother. You just can’t. Jesus is love. And today, I want to talk about that.

God’s Love in Action: John 3:16

We all know John 3:16, but sometimes we don’t stop to let it sink in:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

God so loved. Love gives. And it gives without expecting anything in return. That’s what makes God’s love different from ours.

When I was deep in my own mess—yes, even in the club sipping, smoking, doing my own thing—God still spoke to me. Loud and clear. “My sheep know My voice.” And even there, I recognized it was Him.

So don’t tell me God isn’t speaking to people who aren’t “in church.” There’s a knowing on the inside of every one of us. If we bring love to the world, people won’t think they have to “get right” before meeting God. We must start where they are.

Love Is the Greatest Commandment

Matthew 22:36 says:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

You can’t have one without the other. Loving God means loving people—all people. Not just your neighbor next door, but human beings everywhere.

Yet, here’s the hard truth: many of us don’t even love ourselves. When you’ve been raised in trauma or pain, you have to let God renew your mind and show you who you really are.

You’re not what people called you. You're what you answer to.

Learning to love yourself—really love yourself—becomes the foundation for loving others.

Learning to Love Yourself

This is why I had to start practicing self-care.

For years, like many women, I poured into everyone else and left nothing for myself. But I learned: it’s not selfish to love yourself first. How else can you pour out love if your own cup is empty?

So now, I take my “me time.” Massages, pedicures, solo dinners, sitting quietly in my favorite chair thanking God for my job. Little things that refill me.

What’s your love language? How do you care for yourself? Because once you start loving yourself, you naturally start passing it forward.

Practical Love Is Powerful Love

Loving your neighbor isn’t always grand gestures. Sometimes it’s letting someone cut in line. Holding a door. Sitting with a tired caregiver for a few hours.

I’ll never forget: years ago, as a single mom with two kids, I was on a tight budget. At the grocery store, my kids wanted ice cream but I didn’t have enough cash. A woman behind me with a basket full of beer told the cashier, “Put it on my bill. I’ve been where you are.”

God used her to bless my children’s wants—not just their needs. That’s what 1 John 3:17 means:

“Whoever has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

Freedom in Christ: No Condemnation

At 71, I’ve discovered a freedom in Christ I didn’t know existed. Not what I was taught growing up, but a real, personal relationship.

Jesus said, “Follow Me.” Not “Get it all together first.” Just follow. And I’ve learned that in His love, there is no condemnation.

We’ve made “sin” into a list of rules based on someone’s judgment. But Christ came to take it away. If He’s taken it away, why are we still dragging it back up?

All that’s left now is love. That’s it. Love.

The Anointing Is Already in You

1 John talks about this: the anointing already lives inside you. When truth is spoken, your spirit bears witness with it. Spirit to spirit.

Your relationship with God is personal. But when we gather together, our individual anointings strengthen one another. That’s the power of fellowship.

Final Word: Love in Action

By this we know love: He laid down His life for us. We’re called to lay down our lives for one another—not always in dying, but in small daily choices.

It takes maturity to step back, to not answer every insult, to let someone else go first. But that’s what love looks like.

Love is not just words. It’s deeds. It’s truth. It’s action. And it starts with loving God, loving yourself, and then loving others.

Prayer

Lord, teach me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Teach me to love myself the way You love me, so I can pour that love out to others. Amen.