Glorify God with Agape Love.

Matthew 6:1-4
“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Have you ever heard of the term agape love? It's basically doing something for somebody without expecting anything in return. It shows the love that God and Christ have for man.

The first time I heard that term was in middle school. My Sunday school teacher, Mr. S, who I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before, mentioned that phrase all the time. It was forever stuck in my head. It's a good thing I suppose too. I remember a couple times specifically he said "let's put that agape love into action...let's show the congregation agape love." So what did our class do? We washed random cars in the church parking lot. We didn't do it to receive recognition or fame or appreciation. We didn't do it to get a favor in return. We did it to HONOR and GLORIFY God. The best thing is, we didn't expect anything in return! Honor God, and don't do things to make yourself look good.

Look for random ways you can go out into the world and show agape love. It can be shown to your neighbors or people you don't exactly know so well. If they don't know you, the whole "love of God" thing may click by your actions!

By the way, today is the first day of lent...Ash Wednesday. Are you going to give up anything in order to clean up and enhance your spiritual life?

"God never takes...and since we are created in his likeness...with his same method of thinking and being, our true selves (not these ego shrouded human shells) also know this is true. We inherently know that it is never better to take or require that somebody give. Giving is natural and never includes loss of any kind. True giving is like creation in that you do not lose what you give, but you extend that thing and it grows larger as you give it, or share it...like sharing a story or experience." ~David Nelmes.