Ephesians 5:2
“And walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
We are to walk in love, just as Christ did so. This has resonated with me for the past few years. Love and humility have been at the fore of my thoughts. Humility is how we are see ourselves and love is how we are to treat others.
Humility has settled in for a couple of reasons. God is humble, so I have been attracted to that. The second reason is because He promises us to fill all our needs, I don't have to worry about them. Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
The birds still search for food, but they aren't stressed out. So we are to live our lives and seek the best for ourselves. The stress enters when someone is competing for the same item. It could be getting to the copier first, so we don't have to wait behind that person who copies way too much or getting the last item on the shelf at the store. We can hold the door for that person and allow them to go first. That would be the loving thing.
It's still a struggle. I can do the loving act, but inwardly, I'm worried I won't get the job done in time. That's a great example of love. It's like courage. Real courage is when we act bravely even though we are scared to death inwardly. We give our limitations to God. Lord, I'm doing this because You said to, but I'm worried. I commit it to You and ask that You work this out and give me patience in the process. This is walking in love. Putting others first.
Feelings follow. We act lovingly, even though we don't feel it. Yet, in time the feelings do come. Compassion fills our hearts. We can act on them. Thank You, God.
Jesus was God, but He laid aside His omniscience for the purpose of living life like us. Philippians 2:5-7 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men." Jesus performed His first miracle by the prompting of His mom. He was reluctant and was pushing against her. Next, He acquiesced and did it.
This tells me that Jesus wasn't walking into all situations with it all mapped out in His mind. That may have been true sometimes, but not all times. That's like us. We may be doing something, when we run into someone and a conversation arrises. God may have orchestrated that for His purposes. It might be a single conversation or it could develop into more. We may offer something or share a thought. The meeting may be to encourage us. God knows.
That's how we walk in love. There is no plan on our part. We go throughout our days being grateful. We'll run into people and we love them. Sometimes we feel it, other times we don't. Our wants and desires may be challenged. We sacrifice our need, knowing He will take care of it. Our job is to love and trust.