Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:9-10, The New International Version
Developing an emotionally healthy spirituality is the key to Christian maturity. When the Spirit of Christ comes into our lives, He teaches us to love, accept, and forgive others as a base for our relationships. However, the true depth comes when we grow in our affection for one another.
In verse 10, it states, "Be devoted to one another in love." The word devoted means to have emotions for one another like family members. As we often call one another brothers and sisters in the faith, we are expected to actually share the affection for one another as "blood" families do.
Cultivating this type of emotional bond is part of our heritage as Christians. It comes both from the Holy Spirit in a moment and in sharing in our journeys in Christ over time, Often we discover friends in the faith that are as close as our biological family members.
There are a few things that hinder building these emotional ties. First, having a guarded heart. Every one of us has been hurt multiple times by others. There is a tendency to keep from going deep with people because of fear of pain. Second, there is our own undeveloped emotional love. Many of us have lived as acquaintances even within our biological families. Part of the Christian life experience is opening up our heart to deeper emotional love.
While we are just scratching the surface of this concept today, I pray that as we continue to study relationships in this chapter that we will grow more deeply with one another. Relationships that are devoted to one another in love are like coming home. This is what Jesus offers to those in His family.
Here are our action plans today:
Who are you connected to emotionally? Are they part of your biological circle? Are they part of your spiritual circle? Ask yourself what it would take to grow together at the next level. Time, words of love, words of encouragement, etc.
Negative loving is found in unforgiveness. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you and watch the Lord restore emotional love to you.
Love,
Pastor Stuart