A ship carrying passengers was on its way towards the destination. Suddenly some passengers began to scream and pointed towards the water. Somehow, a passenger fell off the ship into the ocean. He tried to swim for a while but soon began to struggle as he got tired. By the time the Captain was informed, another passenger jumped off the ship in order to help the victim. But he too struggled to keep afloat.
How can one drowning person help another drowning one! On seeing this the Captain threw an inflatable lifeboat into the water in order to help them both. Finally, with the help of the crew, they were pulled on board of the ship, were given towels to wipe themselves and blankets to keep themselves warm. As soon as the ruckus settled, the second person who jumped, stood up and asked, “I want to know who pushed me? I was also shouting like everyone for help but someone pushed me into the water!”
This is the reality of the world, everyone will shout for us but won’t help us in time of need. The lifeboat over here represents Jesus Christ and the Captain of the ship represents the Father who sent Jesus to save mankind from getting into hell. The Scripture says in I John 4:8 “God is love.”
Those who accept Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior are God’s children and the main attribute of God, which is love, needs to dwell in us. Because He lives in us as we are the temple of God, made in His image, He expects us to be like Him in every way. As per I John 4:12, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” So, with God’s love within us, let us be the first ones to show His love to others.
Here are the three things that have to be practiced to have God’s love in our life. They are:
1) Keep your heart clean
Here are the three things that have to be practiced to have God’s love in our life. They are:
1) Keep your heart clean
The heart has longings, desires and human nature, personality and character flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” If everything comes from the heart, how do we guard it? After all it is the eyes and ears through which things reach our heart. Close it wherever necessary and the heart will be white as snow. Acts 13:22 says, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” God has called David a man after his own heart. How can it be? David committed a lot of sins during his ruling period. But he would always go back to God and ask for forgiveness. That is why God likes David’s heart. God even sees the heart of the little ones. And so, guard your hearts because God sees you.
2) Know the character and nature of God
The simplest way to know the heart of God is to read the word of God. The character of Jesus, when He was in this world can be concluded with this verse in Galatians 5:22-23 that says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These nine characters were found in Jesus and these are the basic characters which we should have as a child of God.
Let’s see some examples from the scripture. His character of forgiveness is evident in Luke 23:34 where He says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Even on the cross, Jesus forgives because of His love for the people. His patience can be seen, when He answered all the silly questions asked by the disciples after a sermon or a parable. His self control is seen when Satan tries to tempt Him with questions after His fasting prayer in the wilderness. He overcame everything through the word of God. These are some of His characters which reflect the fruits of the Spirit.
Apart from this He was always ready to help and talk to people. He did miracles for the needy. Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives to know the will of God. We can see that He was prayerful and always willing to do the will of the Father.
3) Train yourself to show the love of God
Keep a good relationship with God. For example, when we keep good relationship with our friends, we tend to develop the same interests that our friends have. Similarly, when we spend time with God we also develop the characteristics of God. Thus we begin to lose interest in things which displease God. The bond we have with God transforms us without our knowledge.
Train yourself to be in touch with Him by depending on Him always. For each and everything, the Holy Spirit will lead you to do what is right in the eyes of God.
Holy Spirit will come upon small children too if they accept Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. You don’t need to beg for the Holy Spirit, He will come to you easily. When someone shares their problems you will start to think about their problem as your problem and the Holy Spirit will help you to pray with burden and compassion. God will help you to give guidance to your parents as well to make a decision.
Let the Almighty God strengthen each one of us to be a lifeboat that saves and spreads the love of God to mankind.
