Love Is Our Resolution
- April Ross
- Jan 1
- 3 min read
“Jesus commands us to Love one another, and it’s time to start making that command a New Year’s resolution every year.”
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 NLT
Every year, we are pestered to make New Year’s resolutions. It used to be fun things that were easily accomplished, like learning how to whistle, roller skate or ride a bike without training wheels. As we get older, the goals for each year get tougher to achieve, like sticking to an exercise program, eating healthier, or learning a new skill. I rarely stick with my goals for more than a few months because life gets busy, or I throw in the towel. Because of past failures, I’ve given up on even making any New Year’s resolutions. It has never occurred to me to make a resolution to love.
But Jesus commands us to Love one another, and it’s time to start making that command a New Year’s resolution every year. God is imploring us to show and use the fruit of the Spirit every day of our lives, but that isn’t an easy task. There are people in our lives that just know how to push our buttons. Our own kids can hit those buttons too. We have to take a deep breath, say a silent prayer, and smile. Showing love and kindness to those around us should be easy enough, but we all know it’s tougher than it sounds.
In His Word, God mentions loving those around us too many times to count, so we know it must be important. Mark 12:30-31 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
If God commands us to love one another, we better get to work so we can accomplish this command! Let’s be that smiling, friendly, loving momma to all the people around us. Let’s smile through the grocery store, even at the checkout. Let’s give a helping hand to those in our community. And, let’s love on our family members that we don’t always see eye to eye with. We get to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others every day.
So… what’s your New Year's Resolution?
Action Steps:
This year, make it a priority to show compassion and empathy to those around you. You may not understand what is happening in their lives, but you can give them a smile, a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on.
Build a community of Jesus-following friends that will help you commit to being a loving and kind person. If you need a community, we’d love to have you join our MMF Online Community where we support each other, pray for each other and do life together.
Make it a priority this year to go to God's word each day to discover ways to be more like Him. Jesus has shown us over and over again how to love those around us. Look for His examples.
Prayer: God, help us to open our hearts to You every day, and open our eyes to see the opportunities to show love like You do to others. Lord, guide us to those that need You most. Give us new ways to show love, kindness, gentleness, compassion and forgiveness to the people in our lives, even ones that we have a hard time with. Thank You, Jesus, for showing us the way to love one another. Amen
Written by: April Ross A momma of 3 trying to show love to all those around me