For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
What is labour of love? First, it is the work we do for the Kingdom of God because we love our heavenly father. The first proof that you love Jesus is obeying His commandments.
The labour of love is what we do to promote the name of Jesus for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. There are two types of Christians: there are those who do as they please and pursue their own agenda and have no time for God’s work. These ones use God for all their problems, they cry to Him whenever they have problems but they never really do anything to help the expansion of God’s kingdom.
The second category are those who see themselves as saved to serve. They give their time and resources to serve and promote the expansion of God’s Kingdom. God wants us to be in the second category.
Heaven has a recording system where it records every work you do for the expansion of the kingdom. God records every labour done out of love for Him and rewards it.
If you love God, you will be working for God. If you love God you will make time out of your schedules to be involved in the preaching of the gospel. If you love God you will give your finances into any course which is leading to the expansion of God’s Kingdom.
Selfishness is the reason why Judas destroyed his life. When he was with Jesus all he was concerned about was what he could get and steal from Jesus to the extent he was willing to even sell his master for 30 pieces of silver. Selfishness makes a man so preoccupied by his own things that he never thinks about the things of others. Selfishness is the reason why many Christians only think about what God should be doing for them and what God has not done and what God needs to do for them.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what exactly am I doing for God? Is it only God who should be doing things for you?
Many people are living under the influence of selfishness rather than love. Love makes you give, selfishness makes you hold back what would have profited the kingdom of God.
Selfish people actually get angry when you tell them to give their time and resources into the Kingdom. Whereas love is willing to even forsake everything for the kingdom sake.
God wants us to be like the early apostles who gave all they had for the Kingdom expansion.
Mark 10 :28-30 says “then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”
God will never forget your labour of love but will surely reward it! I motivate you to find something you can do for the kingdom of God today. Give yourself, your time and your finances into God’s work. Do not hold back.
Thus saith the lord, the day of remembrance has come, the day when I open the books of records and I will reward your efforts for my Kingdom, therefore be not weary in well doing for your reward is at hand.
This is one way of showing how much you love Jesus. And, by the way, what does it mean to love Jesus? I hear this sentence being made severally by believers, ‘ooh I love Jesus’, ‘ooh I love the lord’. -The fact that a person says I love the lord does not imply that Heaven recognises his self acclaimed love.
The kind of love which Heaven recognises is the love that prompts you to actually find what Jesus has instructed you to do and actually begin to do it.
John 14 :23-24 says “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”
The true proof that you love the lord is that you will keep and do the words of Jesus. Your love should be seen in what you are willing to do for the kingdom and in you seeking first the kingdom above everything else.
One of the important principles in every love relationship is that the recipient of the love also has the responsibility of defining what love really is to him or her. Most men buy their wives gifts in an attempt to show that they love them, whereas all their wives want from them is for them to be at home with them rather than hanging out with friends.
And then, the men become angry because they think they are trying hard to love, but their wives do not appreciate their efforts. The point is, the woman’s needs cannot be assumed. The husband needs to find out his wife’s concept of love and then he must love her the way she wants to be loved and not the way he thinks she should be loved.
You cannot define love for the recipient. Everybody has different definitions of what love is to them. Jesus has defined for us in the scriptures what love is to Him. He said, ‘if a man loves me he will keep my words!’
It is important for us to love Jesus the way He wants to be loved and not we loving Him the way we think He should be loved. Many people think they are loving God just because they go to church. While it is important to go to church, you need to seek to do more than that; you need to seek to obey God’s word.
Why not take time to ask yourself the question, ‘do I really love Jesus? Am I doing what Jesus has asked me to do in His word? Do I even know enough of His words to be able to keep all of them?
There are two places God wants us to start from today, firstly in reaching out to the unsaved and secondly in walking in forgiveness.
One of the commands of Jesus is found in Mark 16: 15… “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Start from here. Begin to prove that you love Jesus by beginning to evangelize and preach the gospel to all those who are unsaved. If you love Jesus, you will be fulfilling this scripture.
Jesus also said in Mark 11: 25…”And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Make a decision to forgive those who hurt you. Jesus said when someone hurts you, you must forgive. If you love Jesus you will do as he has said. I encourage you to forgive anyone who has hurt you today.
I pray for grace for you for forgive those who have hurt you, grace comes upon you enabling you to find and do the words of Jesus, in Jesus mighty name.
If you need help on how to demonstrate love to Jesus, feel free to call any of the numbers here or send us an email and we will be glad to talk with you.
Last Line: Have you ever wondered what it means to give your life to Christ and be saved? Are you born again? God sent Jesus to die for all your sins so that you will not have to be punished for the same. To be saved means to simply accept Christ Jesus as your substitutionary sacrifice for your sins and to make him Lord over your life. Surrender your life to Christ today by asking Jesus to forgive you your sins; ask Him to come into your life and to make you a new person. If you are facing challenges and require counseling/prayers do not hesitate to contact me. I will be willing to assist as much as I can.