Initiation Into The Love Cult
We’ve Decided Instead of Allowing Others to Decide For Us
If you are here, it is not by accident. God is using me to love on you, whether it be a little or a lot. How much love you receive principally depends on your awareness of His love and your ability to receive it, as well as mine. I say this because you can give anyone a gift and they have as much obligation to receive the gift as they do to reject it.
Even though our understanding of each other may be limited or unfamiliar, we are always connected through our shared faith in Christ. Have you ever noticed yourself saying or thinking the same things as another believer?
When you are in Christ, you are spiritually connected to His mind and the minds of other believers. Jesus serves as the access point to our spiritual connection. He is the access point akin to the internet of people. Being connected to Jesus often leads us to have similar thoughts about God, similar desires, and analogous responses to circumstances.
Genuinely Loving yourself and others is the first step in initiation. Initiation into what exactly? You’re being initiated into loving people the way Christ said to love people. You are also being initiated into loving yourself according to God’s initial plan for your life.
Hence, The Love Cult, also known as the Children of God.
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. John 13:34-45 King James Version
Tough Love
If you cannot be identified by your individual way of expressing the love of God to others, it’s possible that God does not identify you as a disciple of Christ.
Our Religion & God’s Word
Oftentimes, we make up our own religion and rules, but if we study what scripture says about a particular topic, we quickly find out that what we believe may not be what’s actually written in scripture. In the same respect, we tend to make up our own mind about how we ought to love others. If we are to be known by Jesus as the Children of God, we must be consistent in Christ’s definition of love and not our own.
Though sarcastic in name, The Love Cult consists of people who believe in the way Christ defines love, based on His words and deeds, not based on our opinion or feelings.
Though we tend to fall short when difficult people make it difficult for us to love them, we choose to forgive them, speedily, without any reservation. We choose to repel offense and pray for those who hurt us. We choose to love them and desire the best for them, even when we feel they most assuredly do not deserve it. We choose to love them despite their shortcomings, even when it means loving and praying for them from a distance.
We’ve Decided for Ourselves Instead of Allowing Others to Decide For Us
Loving yourself and others is a contemplated decision that you must one day make. You must decide whether you will follow your feelings, the behaviors and attitudes of others or follow Christ wholeheartedly.
Being a part of The Love Cult, we’ve made our choice. We choose what Jesus says over our feelings because we have decided that God knows best. We obey God, surrender our hearts to Him, and incarcerate our feelings when they get in the way of carrying out God’s word.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. King James Version
Becoming fully immersed in The Love Cult requires time, as well as perseverance, unwavering determination, and a profound love for God. Because God is on your side, He sent me to tell you He loves you. This message of love is to assure you that He loves you deeply.
I hope you accept this package of love that God delivered in this message!
Prayer Appointment
Pray about everything because God is concerned about what concerns you!
Here are questions that may trigger you to pray about the relationships you value most.
1. How has God instructed you in loving yourself, according to His original purpose for your life?
2. How has God influenced others to express their love for you?
3. Have you been able to recognize and value the love that others have expressed in the way they intended?
4. In what ways did their expression of love differ from your expectations?
5. How would you prefer your loved ones to demonstrate their affection, care, and understanding for you?
It is important to remember the people who God uses to express love towards you. Keeping yourself reminded of the people who God uses to show honest - genuine love helps you to stay focused on those who sincerely care for you and diminishes the thoughts of people who are actually against you.
Journal Your Answered Prayers
What prayers have God answered this week?