Love Is an Action
by Rick Warren — April 9, 2019
“Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18 NLT).
Over and over again in the Bible, God commands us to love each other. And you can’t command an emotion. If I told you, “Be sad!” you couldn’t be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but you’re not wired for your emotions to change on command. You know that truth if you’ve ever told a little kid, “Be happy!” “I’m trying, daddy!”
If love were just an emotion, God couldn’t command it. But love is something you do. Yes, it can produce emotion, but love is an action.
The Bible says, “Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18 NLT). We can talk a good act: “I love people.” But do we really love them? Do you really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them.
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