To Be Good at Loving Others, You Have to Practice
By Rick Warren
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God”
(1 John 4:7 NLT).
Love is a skill. If you struggle to love well, here’s some good news: Love is learned! That means the more you practice, the better you will become at it. No matter how you’ve loved or been loved in the past, you can become amazing at loving others.
In fact, God wants you to become a master at this skill. He wouldn’t tell you to love others if he wasn’t going to help you to do just that.
Yet many people never learn how to love.
Do you want to be known as a person of extraordinary love? When people speak of how you love others, do you want them to say, “He loves you regardless of where you’ve been,” or “She loves you no matter what you’ve done”? Do you want to be remembered for how much you owned or accomplished, or do you want to be remembered for how well you loved?
God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will teach and enable you to love others. But to become extraordinary at it, you need to practice it over and over again. It may feel awkward at first as you learn to love with a greater capacity than is humanly possible, relying on the powerful and supernatural love of God to work through you. But the more you love like this, the better you will become at loving unconditionally.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:7 that love comes from God. When you practice and commit to loving others like Jesus loves you, they will take notice and will be drawn to God.
Talk It Over
- Think of someone you know who loves others well. What marks the way that person treats others in everyday interactions?
- How did Jesus show his love for others? How can you do the same?
- If love is a skill, it must be practiced. What are some specific ways you can practice loving others this week?