Looking with Love

Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

What is the condition of our love lenses? You know, how we see and perceive others in our daily lives. Strangers at the grocery store or the bank. Friends, family, and acquaintances. Co-workers. The homeless we pass or panhandlers we avoid. Neighbors. First responders and other service workers. People. Causes. Politics. Other countries.

¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:12-14 ESV

This post is to challenge us to constantly observe our love lenses so that we look with God’s love. We are accountable to love — love God, love the brethren and sisteren, love our neighbors, love the stranger…LOVE. One of the problems that’s revealed the ugliness of our hearts in recent days is that we err when we set the parameters of love. When we define love, there will always be problems. Love is not preference or feeling. I do not have to choose you to love you. (Ouch… I know.) Here’s what Nick Baines says about the steadfast love of God.

The steadfast love of the Lord speaks of a love that is not susceptible to circumstantial change or fluctuation… is not deflected by emotion or failure on the part of the loved. Such love does not depend on reciprocation or bargaining, but is rooted in covenant and the character of the Lord. Love like this is not fickle, cannot be bought (or sold) and has to be trusted when things deny its reality.

Nick baines, author of freedom is coming (emphasis added)

We receive encouragement from the Scripture to be steadfast (1 Cor. 15:58). Consider our consistency in viewing all things with love. If we did/do, then with renewed minds our behavior will follow. Colossians 3:14 reminds us that love is the key to harmony. First Corinthians 16:14 puts it as plain as it can be — ALL that we do should be done in love. (Think of all we DO in one day.)

Please, take this seriously as you search your hearts and I search mine. We are to look with God’s love. And to be clear, looking with love does not mean being soft or ignoring wrongs. Love is a champion and gets in the face of injustice and error with God’s truth. Love is strong and fierce and challenges us to be the best versions of ourselves, while reminding us that we are made in the image of God. Love does not back down from lies and deceit; love rejoices in the truth.

So… how are we looking? Seeing? Perceiving? Selah.

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Dr. Shaunta Scroggins is the founder of The Bereans’ Commentary.