Looking back at our six streams, Holiness, Contemplative, Incarnational, Charismatic, Social Justice, and Evangelical, love definitely needs to be at the center in order to achieve the most you can in them.
Holiness- was about having pure thoughts, words, and actions and overcoming temptation. Love needs to be present and growing in this stream not only because you love God and He wants us to practice these things but because we need to think postive about people, speak encouragement and words of life to people, and help people. This cannot be done without having love for people in all areas. The way I see people at this point of my life is like this, if they are unbelievers, I see them as people that God created and loves but who are lost from the truth. I try to see them the way God would see them….and we all know that God is love. When we see people we need not be critical, wrathful, and not speak ill of them, and when faced with temptation, rely on God who loves you and want you to rely on Him.
Contemplative-spending time with God in prayer and meditation. Love is the center of this stream because we need to love God in order to rely on Him and and trust Him. Why would be spend time with someone we didn’t love? Without love we wouldn’t be able to worship Him, admire and appreciated what He has done for us, or admire what he has made for us. How would be grow in our relationship and dependence on Him with out loving Him. Without love there is no faith. Without love this stream would not exist.
Incarnational-unfying the sacred secular areas of my life while showing forth God’s presence. If we are going to love God we need to love every area of him, whether its something we are used to or not. If we love God we should not underestimate him or go by our own understanding. We should not put God in a box, or think that He is only in one place…church. God is everywhere…..different kinds of churches, you can bring him home, to hospitals, to work, anywhere you like to. However, you would only do that for the love you have for him and how you want to experience Him, honor Him, and share Him with others.
Charismatic-welcoming the Holy Spirit while nurturing and exercising my spiritual gifts. We need to have love for God to want to have an intimate relationship with him, being obedient, and grow spiritually. If we dont have love how else are we going to be striving for closeness, guidance, and exhibit the God that is in us. How are we going to show and practice the fruits of the spirit with people if we dont love God and the people we encounter?
Social Injustice- helping others less fortunate than I. We need to have love for peole in order to help people that have less than you. In this area we need to be empathetic not just sympathetic. We need to put ourselves in their shoes, in their situation so that we can have mercy on them just as God has mercy on us. We need to love all people, being that they are a creation of God and give at all times we are able to, help and defend them when needed. God always knows what you do, nothing goes unseen, and He will know our intentions, we need to make sure that all He sees is LOVE.
Evangelical-sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and reading the Scriptures. Sharing the Gospel was what Jesus wanted us to do so that we can bring people to know Him. If we love God, we will want to share what He has done for us to other people so they can receive change in their lives as well.
Since I have had God in my life I have realized more and more what truly is important in this short time we are here in this world. I have tried whenever possible to show love to anyone and everyone. No matter what I am doing now I still need to work on it more. We have to love more than anything, not only Jehovah God but also everyone else.