Being a Christian is more than living life between you and God.  Being a Christian means loving others.  It is a call from our God to share our love with others.  Finding the full understanding of His love and grace can only be found when invest that love and grace in the lives of others.    Loving others is of such vital importance because it is the revealing evidence of the existence of a faith that saves us in our lives.  The New Testament book of James tells us that a faith that does not love is not actually faith at all. 

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” James 2:14 (NIV).

A saving faith is a faith that Loves Others. We want to challenge and lead every person at BCCC to pursue loving others in 4 simple ways in how we act and invest our lives in others.


Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

 

In Luke 4:8 we are told that the second greatest commandment is to, “love your neighbor as yourself.” As a matter of fact, in the book of Romans we are told that loving our neighbor sums up all the commandments of God.  How we treat and care for others is vitally important to God.  As a matter of fact, to love God a core focus of our lives must be to love others.  How do we do that?  Quite simply by actively applying the Golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, into all parts of our lives.  Applying that rule means consciously moving out from behind our wall of self and investing in getting to know others and caring for others in real ways that make a difference.   That means starting right in your own neighborhood with those who live around you, it extends to everyone you meet.   Perhaps one of the most famous examples of loving a neighbor is found in the story told by Jesus known as the Good Samaritan. This and following forms of loving others are all components of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Listen here to learn more about how to love your neighbor as yourself.

 

 

Love Others Not As They Deserve but Need
Often our love for others is determined by how we feel about them.  That feeling can come from past relationship experiences, or the feeling can come from a preconceived idea we gain about someone we have never even met.  The second step in your journey to Love Others is by being deliberate in reaching out to care for other individuals not because of what they deserve, but despite it.  If we think about it, Jesus sets the example with his life when he chose to love each of us when we did not deserve it. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8 (NIV).  True love is action that takes place not because of how we feel, but despite how we feel.  Listen here to learn more about how to ove others as they need, not as they deserve.



Love One Another in Community

The first church sets the example of what it means to love one another in community when we are told in Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV) 

 

Community is where you invest in one another through the learning of God’s word together, supporting one another in both good times and bad, and committing to live focused on the call of serving God and one another with all your hearts.  Our Ministries section provides you with information about many of the ministries we have for you to love others through.  Serving one another in a Christian community is a key component of living a life that glorifies Him.  Listen here to learn more about how you can love one another.



Love As They Are
One of the uncanny attributes of God Jesus demonstrated while on this earth was the ability to love individuals just as they were.  As a matter of fact, the original word used for God’s love in the New Testament was the Greek word agape.  This word to describe love is a love without conditions.  In other words, it is not a love that is based on the way someone acts.  It is not a love that is based on what someone else can do for you.  Nor is it a love that is based on who someone is.  It is a love that simply loves individuals as they are.  Loving as they are is how God loves us, and is the goal for which God calls us to love others.   As with all the ways we are to love others this love is not a love of fluffy emotions but a love of actions.  

To learn on how you can Love others in our Life contact one of our ministers to join the BCCC journey to love others.