Love Will…

Recently, I was driving on a highway in the Kansas City area and saw a billboard for Children's Mercy Hospital. The billboard had these words in large, bold print: "Love Will." What a great tagline for a hospital!

I began to think about the truth of these words from the story of salvation. God's love for you and me led Him to send His one and only Son to this world (John 3:16).

Love will send. God understood humanity's inability to fix its own sin problem, so God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for you and me (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Love will sacrifice. God knew that believers would have power to live a righteous life only with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Love will sanctify. The same Spirit, therefore, who raised Jesus from the dead lives in people of faith so that we might be overcomers (Romans 8:11).

You can fill in the blank with many endings to the sentence, "Love will _____________." It would be a good exercise for families to consider this during the Advent season. What did God do through His love in your life?

Love Compels…

As Christians, however, our personal salvation and sanctification is not the end of the story. We are not intended to hold on to the grace of God for ourselves, enjoying His favor and the promise of eternal life while neglecting the world around us. Your spiritual formation into Christlikeness is ultimately intended to point Christ to others! Just as God's love compelled Him to do things, so our love for God should compel us to act on behalf of others (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)!

In March 2021, the Board of General Superintendents launched a global initiative that defines a new framework for Nazarene Discipleship. We called this framework, "A Journey of Grace." It is a journey that each of us travels from grace to grace to grace, from prevenient grace to saving grace to sanctifying grace.

This journey is not for you alone. Your journey of grace includes others! If you are walking in the sanctifying grace of God, you must journey with others, making disciples of all nations, establishing new believers, and walking with others into the deeper work of heart cleansing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Walking with others on their journey is a task of disciple making. In this Christmas season, consider what love will do through you in the lives of others (1 Thessalonians 2:8). Are you willing to give your life away for others as Jesus gave His life for you?