One major aspect of faith is that it compels us to act out on it to obediently and earnestly follow whatever command God has given us if we truly want to exercise it. In fact, our willingness to act out on our faith is precisely what will demonstrate whether our faith in God is real. Our love for God can only be expressed through the means of our obedience to Him in relation to our faith in Him. With that being said, love isn’t based that much on what we say or the deep feeling of affection that we hold, but rather on the disposition of our heart to make sacrifices in order to express it.
First, Christ has commanded us to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34). The kind of love that Christ has extended to us is the highest level of love known as ‘Agape’. Besides, it’s both self-sacrificial and unconditional by nature. That love doesn’t come from humans naturally because they are incapable of producing it. Instead, it’s a love that can only be imputed in us by the person of the Holy Spirit.
With respect to faith, exercising faith in God isn’t only limited to believing on God for Him to intervene on behalf of us as a result of something we’re struggling with, nor is it limited to generously contributing our resources to His work. We can also exercise faith in Him through our willingness to help needy people because it’s real faith in action. In other words, it is works that have to be done in relation to our faith in God. It’s worthwhile that we consider these Scripture verses below.
Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 16:14).
…For whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20).
God operates through people in order to accomplish His perfect will, so we’re the one that He’ll use as a vessel in order to extend His love to others in a powerful way. In this case, we have a critical decision we have to make in that regard as people who want to glorify and please Him. So every time someone has experienced the love of God through us as a result of our willingness to help them out, God is glorified by that.
Love Must be The Very Reason Why we Help Others.
Our heavenly Father wants us to make sure that love must be the core foundation of our deeds to others. As believers, we don’t try to make a difference in the lives of others just because we have to, nor is it for the sake of impressing people but because of God’s love flowing through us. Our deeds must come from the bottom of our hearts since we’re doing it for the glory of God.
When God is blessing us, He gives us His very best. Thus He’s expecting us to do the exact same thing for others. If we claim that we love others, then we have to be willing to make sacrifices on behalf of them. For instance, if someone is in dire need of money and you have money, or it could well be money that will be used to buy something that you want which importance cannot even come close as far as the significance and urgency of the need that person has is concerned, you must be willing to make a sacrifice on that want you have in order to help that person out.
Love is selfless by nature. There may be time that we have to put aside our own personal agenda in order to extend God’s love to others. In other words, we should not look only to our own interests but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). This verse may not sit very well with many people as a result of their tendency to focus on self by making sure both their needs and wants are met first. However, putting the interests of others ahead of ours is actually putting God’s own interests first. Why? We’re doing just what God has commanded us to do for others for His own glory.
Faith Should Also be Part of The Equation.
Having said that, God also wants us to make sure that our deeds are done in combination with our faith. Scripture plainly states that faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:17). That’s just the fundamental of how faith works. If we have faith in God, we must be willing to act out on the ground of it on behalf of others. When we badly need something from God, we do our very best to take a leap of faith by taking Him at His promises. The point is that we can certainly exercise that same level of faith into Him by doing for others the very things that He has commanded us to do.
When we’re making sacrifices for others, we must act out by faith in the sense that God will see us through and reward us greatly for that. The same way God can satisfy our faith in Him as a result of Him intervening in our struggles is pretty much the same way that He can use us in order to satisfy the faith of others who’ve been expecting Him to meet their needs. The same way that you’re letting God to work through you for the purpose of making you become a blessing to others is the same way He will use others, so that they can be a blessing to you.
One simple contribution that you make can make a world of difference in the lives of others even though you may not even realize it, or even if you may feel like it’s just not enough. There are many people all around the globe who are living in very poor areas that are dying from lack of foods and healthy water, and diseases that could be easily treated. God isn’t really going to come in person in order to do something about that, but He’ll use us instead.
When looking at the overwhelming sufferings going on in the world, this might prompt us to think about what we could have done if we had sufficient resources. But we don’t have to do something very big in order to make a difference, we can simply donate whatever God has put in our heart to well-trusted organizations that are providing aids to these desperate people. Whenever the opportunity arises for us to go to these places through mission trip, we should seize it.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, we may not personally harbor hatred toward others, but our indifference to them regardless of their needs while we’re able to help them isn’t that much different to hating them. Let’s put that in perspective, let’s say that someone is in serious need of money or foods and this individual is well are that you can do something about that, but you choose not to do so despite of the fact that you could have done something. No matter how you may try to express God’s love toward such individual, you would never be believed because you’re just trying to extend a love that has no basis whatsoever. Lastly, your action isn’t a reflection of the love you’re sharing.