God’s love ambassadors

Published 6:50 am Friday, November 10, 2023

I wrote a book a few years ago called Love Never Fails. The content of the book is scripturally sound and might give you some insights into the kind of love described in I Corinthians 13, but in the years since I wrote that book, I have come to realize that I have barely scratched the surface of what there is to know and understand about this kind of love – let alone walk and live in it as revelation knowledge. I realize that I am still in the infancy stage of expressing God’s Agape (love) to our hurting world.

Our world, our nation, our city and my own family and acquaintances could testify to that truth. I am a mixture at best – of God’s love, my own desires to express this love to others and a realization of just how short I fall. I have opportunities almost every day to make choices that increase my capacity to love like Jesus or to continue in my own selfish ways. I don’t think my capacity to love is anywhere close to what I am going to need to live in the world that is currently evolving. Hatred has escalated to proportions most of us have never seen let alone even thought possible.

In February I wrote an article describing “Love Looks like Something.” I had been observing the street ministry to the homeless in our community which continues to thrive and expand. More individuals, businesses, churches and ministries have participated in helping these individuals see what tangible love looks like and hopefully give them an opportunity to choose a different way of life (some are mentally ill and that is a much more complex situation). Some of these individuals have gotten off the streets, into homes, with a job. Many more continue in their addictions and making unwise choices even when given the opportunity for a hand up. But love should look that way to every segment of our society. Those who are affluent and appear to have their lives “together” are sometimes the neediest of all. They just hide their hurts behind different things like success and possessions.

I have been reading and listening to a man who is known in the Muslim world especially the imams as “the Apostle of Love.” He has gotten awards and recognition because he carries a level of God’s love that is tangible for these leaders. Many of them are having encounters with Jesus before they know who He really is. Leif introduces them to Him as unconditional love and they have a tangible encounter with Him. This has opened a wide door in several Muslim countries to share God’s love for and to them. When I hear testimonies like these, it provokes me to pursue a deeper level of God’s love than what I have personally experienced. You cannot give to someone else something you, yourself have not experienced.

I used to own rental property and had rented to a lady with two handicapped sons. When she suddenly died at age 55, she left these two boys without the ability to take care of themselves (they were not capable of making wise or mature decisions). Her only living relative, a sister, tried to manage both boys but found that they could not live together (alone). I volunteered to put one of them into a small rental unit that was vacant at the time and do the best I could to provide for him and supervise his life. Social services were unable to handle the young man I was working with – rebellious, uncooperative, a non-communicator many times plus a low IQ (8 year old maybe), autistic, bi-polar as well as some physical issues. The Lord has given me a lot of grace and mercy over the last 6-7 years and we have seen improvement in some areas (he is a part of my local church and they love him too). However, I have come to realize, he is the very thing God is using to show me how little I really love like Jesus! I keep several different versions of I Corinthians 13:4-7 on index cards at my kitchen table and review them regularly, especially when He is testing me on how I react to this young man.

“Love is patient …” I can’t even get past that verse very often because I realize I have not demonstrated God’s kind of patience toward this young man. He responds to tangible acts of love, but not if there are “strings attached” – “if you do this, I will reward you with that.” Words of correction are hardly ever received because I am not doing it from a pure heart of care and concern for him, but rather trying to change his unacceptable behavior.

Do I believe in miracles? Absolutely. But I think I need one more than he does. I need that tangible encounter with true love that would help me to see him the way Jesus does.

One of the imams that had an encounter with Love (Jesus), went back to his own community with his eyes now open to the needs in his community that he never saw before this encounter. “When this man returned to his home country, he began to notice things he never had before: people living in poverty, beggars, people in pain … these people had been there all along – he had grown up with this pain all around him – but the common attitude is that Allah is going to do whatever Allah is going to do. He had not noticed these things before he was filled with a heart of love.” He wanted to address the brokenness.

Other religions and people who have not been exposed to this Jesus that is unconditional love are very hungry to receive His love. Evangelism takes on a whole different dynamic when love for the people is demonstrated in such a tangible way. Other countries like the Philippines and Cuba are also seeing a demonstration of His love that is actually taking it to the next level of discipleship with Lighthouses of Love – homes in neighborhoods that can show God’s love in practical ways and teach the neighborhood to love one another.

I will continue to ask the Lord for an encounter with this kind of Love that will change my perspective even more than has been to date. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Thomasville was known as a City of Love? My vision is that we could send out ambassadors of love into every dark corner of our city and county and ultimately beyond our borders. Ask the Lord to encounter you with His amazing love. That is the first step to city-wide transformation.