Love for God by loving others

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? James 1:27-2:4 NLT

Part of being a Christian is to exercise the freedom that God gave us so we can please Him. He wants us to never stop doing good and this includes loving others. “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone” (Galatians 6:10). God expects His children to be loving for God Himself is love. Following God’s example of loving others demonstrates that our relationship with God is “pure and genuine.” We live out and practice our relationship with God when we intentionally seek out opportunities to care for those who lack the means to proceed on living. As children of God, we look for ways on how we can alleviate the needs of others and show them the love of God. The Lord Jesus Christ commended those that helped others, “the least of these my brothers and sisters,” and told them that “you were doing it to me!” (Matthew 25:40b). While we do what God has called us to do, we are commanded to refuse the world that corrupts us. We should not buy in to the glitter of earthly riches but pursue opportunities to glorify God. We should not judge merely by external appearance. We should not be influenced by our own personal prejudices that we look at a person’s face, clothing, wealth and position. When we show favoritism as to who we are to help based on our personal preferences, then we show that our “judgments are guided by evil motives” (James 2:4). The gospel must be preached in word and in deed. The outworking of having Christ in our life is shown on how we extend help to others especially those who are disadvantaged. When we express the love of the Lord by genuinely loving others and reaching out with the gospel, we take part in effectively building the body of Christ.

Blessings,