How can personal growth in love impact our witness to non-believers? The Holy Spirit’s call to keep growing “And indeed, you are showing this love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:10) • Paul celebrates real love already on display, then presses believers not to plateau. • Because every line of Scripture is true, this “excel more and more” is not a suggestion; it is a Spirit-given mandate that still stands. • Love is therefore a dynamic assignment—never finished, always expanding. Why overflowing love persuades the watching world • Love displays God’s own nature (1 John 4:8). When we grow in it, people see something they cannot explain apart from Him. • Love authenticates discipleship: “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) • Love silences criticism: “Live such good lives among the pagans that… they may see your good deeds and glorify God.” (1 Peter 2:12) • Love adorns the gospel. Words can be doubted; sacrificial care is harder to dismiss (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). • Love breaks cultural barriers—just as the Thessalonians’ love reached “all Macedonia,” ours can cross neighborhoods, workplaces, and nations. Practical rhythms that expand our love 1. Abide daily in Christ’s love (John 15:9-12). Intimacy with Him fuels affection for others. 2. Pray specifically for hearts to enlarge (Philippians 1:9-11). Growth in love is something God must work; we ask and He supplies. 3. Serve in concrete ways—time, resources, presence. Love matures through action, not theory (James 2:15-17). 4. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:13). Inviting people—believers and non-believers—into our spaces makes love visible. 5. Guard unity in the church (Colossians 3:14). A congregation knit together in peace sends a compelling message to outsiders. 6. Forgive quickly (Ephesians 4:32). Nothing drags witness down like grudges among Christians. A gospel witness that rings authentic When believers continually “excel more and more” in love, non-believers encounter: • A foretaste of heaven’s community. • Credible evidence that Christ truly changes people. • An open door to hear the message that motivated such love—His death and resurrection for them. Our task is simple and lifelong: keep letting the Lord stretch the borders of our love until His goodness becomes hard to ignore. |
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