As I was sitting in a church service while visiting some friends out of town, I heard it being said that the primary actions of love are to have a smile for most everyone, and to be a generally encouraging person.
I remember thinking that it would be very easy to think of myself as being loving if this was my only idea of what a loving person does. Through my growing up, I was impressed with a similar idea that the primary actions of love are to be nice, avoid conflict, mind your own business, quietly and temporarily tolerate annoying people, and perhaps occasionally do a random act of kindness for a stranger. This definition of the actions of love would leave almost all of us believing in error that we are loving.
I have found that many believers have been taught the same idea of what love’s actions look like. I’d like to show you why we need to move beyond this common anemic idea, AND I’d like to help you move into experiencing God’s definition of love in your family.
So many times I hear parents saying they aren’t actually sure what love looks like in their everyday life with their families. They’re pretty sure that some of what they experienced growing up wasn’t loving, and they want to be loving parents, but they don’t really know what it’s supposed to look like. Do you know what loving actions actually look like?
We know from Scripture that love is the key, love is the focus, and love is the goal of the Christian life. In 1 John we read that He who does not love does not know God, for God IS love. God is loving all the time and in every way, and He calls us to be loving just like He is.
Learning to love much and well
In reality, your actions of love or of unlove are displayed in how you relate with those that are closest to you. In order for you to BE loving, love’s actions need to be evident in your thoughts, motivations, intentions, and your relational habits.
The goal of the Christian life is to become Christlike, where your relational actions are self-sacrificially loving like Jesus. Jesus’ kind of love is beyond simple familial love, or general niceness, or being a helpful encouraging person.
Moms who are just coming to the Lifestyle of Learning™ message are faced with the idea that they need to learn how to love much and love well, but they find themselves not knowing what self-sacrificial love looks like. This is the question we examine in the Love’s Actions Seminar messages.
In each Love’s Actions Seminar, I bring to you a thorough explanation and discussion of one of love’s actions taken from Scripture, such as patience, faithfulness, kindness, and so on. I provide an expanded definition taken from the dictionary, and use many clear illustrations of what a particular love’s action would look like worked out in your family relationships—with your spouse, with your children, and in relationship between siblings.
Each seminar concludes with how God expresses that particular love’s action toward us. It’s my hope to bring conviction to your heart and inspiration for taking positive love actions toward your family. As God corrects and instructs you toward becoming the loving parent He wants you to be, Lifestyle of Learning™ will work for you just as it does for me and many other moms who’ve been making these same changes. I want you to hear from a couple of moms who’ve listened to the seminars.
Love’s Actions Seminars Show You What Love Looks Like!
“Listening to even one of the Love’s Actions audios will enrich your walk with the Lord and open up your eyes to see the ways of Jesus walked out in everyday situations down to the finest detail with your children and spouse, and also between you and the Lord. Barbie brings a copious amount of practicality filled with examples in a very clear and precise manner to illustrate every point made in her presentation. Once you have listened to one audio, you will not want to miss out on hearing all the rest of them. These audios are not something you want to pass up!” ~ Carolyn J
“I have really loved listening, and re-listening to the Love’s Actions audios. Everything I have ever read or listened to from Lifestyle of Learning™ has been so encouraging, inspiring, challenging and life-changing. I particularly like the Love’s Actions audios as they are practically teaching me what love looks like, and how to love. In the “Your Conscience” mini coaching program I learned how the Holy Spirit speaks through my conscience to correct and instruct me. I believe God is using the teachings from Love’s Actions to show me what love looks like in the real moments of my day. I still have a ways to go to be able to love much and love well, but I cannot believe how much God has already done in my life through this ministry. Thank you Barbie for the work you have put into preparing these seminars. They are so detailed and practical. They are very, very helpful.” ~ Deb B
Do You Need to See What Love Looks Like?
If you’re like Deb, you could use some clear, practical examples that show you what love looks like in the real moments of your day while interacting with your children that go beyond what you already know and practice as general niceness or helpfulness. You can get started right away toward saturating your mind and soul with these powerful and practical words of truth in how to love.
You can listen to a free audio talking about how the Love’s Actions Seminars creation came about, along with an example of the sorts of things you will hear in the seminars. Sign up for the audio below.
Click here to continue reading more discussion about our need to love like Jesus.
