Controlled by Love

Good morning and greetings in Jesus name!

I hope that you are very willing to step out of your comfort zone, step out of your boat where everything is served to you into a new zone where you are willing to serve and bless others. Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14, “Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.”

Paul is setting a context to something that he wants us to do. He is saying, this is how I live my life. I let the love of Jesus control everything about me. He says that because Jesus died for me, His love is made available for me and that His love is poured out in my life. And because I believe that He died for everyone, I believe that we have died to our past, to our yesterday, to our ego and pride, every area that has held me in high regard.

Now the only thing that matters is that the love of Christ compels me, it controls me, drives me in a particular direction. In the previous verse, he says that there are times when I am acting crazy and it is for the glory of God and there are times when I am in my right mind and that is for your benefit. Paul says that I am so flexible now. He says that in the past when he was a Pharisee, he was hurting Christians, he was a very rigid persona and would force people to do what he wanted them to do. He did not show mercy to anyone. But now since I have believed in Jesus, he has died to that old way, died to my personality trait. Now it is the love of Christ that controls me. Now it is no longer what I want to do, it is all about how my life can bring glory to God, how my life can benefit people. What are the things that control us? We are willing to serve people only to a certain extent, only till we are comfortable, only if the other person is like me or likes me! But in doing all of this we are not becoming like Christ. The Bible says Jesus came for us while we were still His enemies. When it is the love of Christ that compels us then we will go to any extent to benefit people around us.

So let me challenge you today! What is the love of Christ compelling you to do? Look at the people around you and find out what can I do when the love of Christ controls me. If you can find the gem in people when they are still dirty and if you can serve them when they are still a nobody, that is proof of God’s love. Ask the Lord, what is His love want you to do for the people around you. Do what the love of Christ compels you to do, not what your bank account wants you to do, not what you want to do in your comfort zone. Ask the Lord and do exactly that and see how you can be a blessing to people around you.