How Do We Love?

Oh, the Stories We'll Tell!

Love’s easier to talk about than it is to do.


That’s why our 2023 Ministry Theme asks the question: “How do we love?” Following the way of Jesus, we don’t want to talk or sing about love and leave it at that. We want to do it. Focusing on how we love insists that our love finds concrete expression in the real world, in real time. What will that look like?

 

We may not know the particulars yet, but this much we do know: God’s going to give us great stories as we do the real, gritty, holy, graceful work of loving every day.

“Speak, Lord. I am Your Servant, and I am Listening.”

Our life with God is a listening life; Jesus emphasizes this throughout the gospels. Time after time he says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus is our model; listening is what he did. “But even though he was a wonderful Son, he learned to listen and obey…” (Hebrews 5:8, Passion Translation). Jesus didn’t automatically or supernaturally know everything his Father wanted. Like us, he had to listen to learn the pathways of real life.


And we can do it, too, we can hear God’s voice. We are created to hear his voice because we are his sons and daughters. If our 2023 Ministry Theme—How Do We Love?—is to come to fruition, we must hear God’s voice. He will tell us, clearly and generously, who we are to love and how we are to love. We won’t have to guess or wonder, as Proverbs 22:17 makes clear: “Listen carefully and open your heart. Drink in the wise revelation that I impart.”