Love Is Intentional

Love requires a pure heart, selflessness and sacrifice.

9/15/20262 min read

It takes an extra dose of effort to help others. We have to step outside of ourselves and be selfless and sacrificial so we can reach out and make an impact. It may require our time and resources. It may require just one person or many. But in all cases, it requires the unconditional love of God. Without it, everything we do is in vain.

We can go to great lengths to do massive humanitarian efforts, philanthropic deeds, and charitable donations. But if our motives are misguided in self-righteousness or tax exemptions, then we’ve missed the point of all those efforts. We’ve missed the opportunity to show them the love of God, the grace of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

God is the sole purpose of our existence. He formed our bodies, gave us breath, and sacrificed His Son so that we can restore our relationship with Him. Therefore, it should be our compelling mission to serve Him, sacrifice for Him, grow in Him, and reach the lost for Him.

God’s love speaks to all, no matter the language, culture, or country. His love penetrates the hardest of hearts and miraculously transforms us from the inside out. He speaks to the unreachable with His love and grace.

Who are we to deny the unbeliever a taste of God’s love? Who are we to stand in the way of a supernatural interaction between God and them? Will we be a vessel for Him or a blockade against His saving grace?

We must carefully examine our motives. Pray for clean hands and a pure heart. Submit to the power of the Holy Spirit, and go forth in the name of the Lord. As we become living sacrifices for Him, we will see Him pierce the hearts of many and transform lives before our eyes. We will see the glory of the Lord and His marvelous plan unfold as He touches the hearts of humanity and saves their lives for all eternity.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:9-11