Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God.

~1 John 4:7 NKJV

It was late into the night. As I replayed the day’s current events, I found it impossible to sleep.

In everything I read, and everywhere I went, division lingered. I saw it in the world around me, in the church, in my relationships online, and even at the store. Experiencing this divisive period in history grieved me.

I decided to do something about it, so I prayed.

My prayer was simple but heartfelt. I asked God to tell me what I could do. Ideas came to my mind of simple ways I could show people His love, and by doing this, I could create more unity among the people He placed in my life. I was ready to start!

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

~Matthew 7:37-39 NKJV

Friend, how do we rise above the divisiveness we see going on around us? We start by asking God to give us the grace to create unity by walking in love. The most unifying–and greatest–commandments in the Bible are to walk in love toward God and one another.

And this is love: that we walk in accordance with His commandments and are guided continually by His precepts. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should [always] walk in love.

~2 John 1:6 AMP

We can show love with or without words. Either way, love looks like something. Love can look like writing a prayer to God to forgive the people who have wronged us. Love can look like a mason jar full of fresh-cut flowers we leave on the doorstep of our neighbor’s house who sees life through a quite different lens than we do. Our hurting world needs the touch of God’s healing love desperately right now.

Walking toward someone in love doesn’t mean we should ask the mom of the kid who punched our kid in the face last week to brunch. We can have healthy boundaries and still choose to love. But it could look like forgiving them in our hearts and asking God to bless that family on their way. The point is, when we choose to walk in love by doing something, we create the unity God desires. When we walk in love, we crumble walls of division and heal wounds.

Be the person who creates unity through love in action. Be someone who brings revival to the chaos and trauma. Be someone who breaks down the walls of division that have been built, so healing can begin. Activate the power of God’s unifying love, putting love on display to those who need it. Bring unity to the people God has placed in your life by showing love through actions.

What is something you can do that demonstrates love in action?

Lord God, give me creative ideas to daily show love to the people You’ve placed in my life.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2021: Love Looks Like Something: Brandie J. Muncaster: All Rights Reserved