We pray that by the year-end of 2020, every person in Jacksonville would be authentically loved by at least one follower of Jesus.
We believe that the greatest gift we can give a person is an opportunity to know that God loves them and cares deeply about them. Such love is not an emotion, but a choice.
Followers of Jesus do not love on the basis of how we feel because real love is not a transaction based upon performance, but upon a relationship. This understanding of love lead us to view loving God and others more as the purpose of life itself rather than a rule to be obeyed.
We believe the commandment to love comes to us from God, who is Holy Love. This means our ego is not the gatekeeper of love, but that our lives are the channels through whom God’s love reaches the world.
Jesus’ words, “Love one another as I have loved” (John 15:12) make the command one of opportunity, not obligation–one of privilege, not pressure. Our will to live is itself fueled by love–we love because he first loved us (1John 4:19).
Give love a try! When we are transformed by God’s love, this experience saturates us, we cannot imagine not loving, and we lose interest in trying to decide when, where, how, to what extent, and whom to love. In fact, we realize that the most soul-wearying thing we can ever do is to be the self-appointed managers of God’s love.
The impact of love in the New Testament is altogether consuming. After all:
- It never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8);
- It covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8);
- It casts out fear (1 John 4:18);
- It speaks truth (Ephesians 4:15);
- It lays down its life (John 15:13);
- Nothing can separate us from it (Romans 5:35);
- It is unconditional (Romans 5:8);
- It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7);
- Faith works through it (Galatians 5:6);
- It operates in the invisible world (1 Peter 1:8);
- It is the first fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22);
- We are to pursue it until it overtakes us (1 Timothy 6:11);
- It is sincere (Romans 12:9); and finally
- It gives the best (John 3:16).
If we get into the habit of asking God to make His love real to us and to those we encounter, love will become the most powerful weapon in our arsenal. If it is not relevant to our city, then it is not relevant to any city. Without the power of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, we may have a good history, but we will not have good news.
Our prayer for the church at this hour is for love to simply be demonstrable, tangible, if you will. That’s why Transform Jacksonville & NE Florida has joined with the Mission America Coalition in sounding a trumpet call to bring God’s people to a simple and powerful lifestyle of praying, caring and sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those around us. Every Christian can be part of this loving lifestyle –loving regardless, loving anyway, and loving nevertheless. This is not a knee-jerk, unconsidered love, but rather it is a Spirit-anointed love made possible by grace. It is a love marked by passion for God and compassion for people.
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