Tangible Expressions of Love

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me (Matthew 25:34-40).

Tangible expressions of love and care go so much farther in reaching others for Jesus than force feeding them the gospel when they are not ready! In our me first world, people are looking for genuine expressions of love.

Victory Fellowship fed 25 families Thanksgiving meals last month. And in the past two weeks we have given 70 needy families Christmas gifts for their children, with 25 of those families being children of those in prison.

If we’re going to reach this generation, we must put legs on our praying and on our faith for the harvest! We need to ask ourselves, what can I tangibly do to reach out and show Christ’s love?

Today I’m going to the Garner Rest Home near our church and we are serving communion to the over 100 residents there. We are passing out smalls gifts to all the residents there too.

There are so many ways that we can reach out and show that we live what we believe. I want to challenge you to think of ways that we can reach out individually and as a group. This is what the Father has placed in my heart as the methods we should be using to evangelize our community.

Our Hands of Hope ministry is such a blessing to single mothers and the elderly. Repairing someone’s roof; replacing a water heater; repairing a garage door may seem like an unspiritual activity. But when it is done with love as a motive, it becomes a tangible expression of the love of God.

I have a desire for our church to reach out as a group to our community with these tangible expressions of love. We now help With Love From Jesus once a month on a Saturday. But what else can we do to show our love for the world.

Please e-mail me with your ideas. I’m meeting with our outreach and evangelism director after the Christmas holidays. I’ll take your suggestion along with other ideas, and together we’ll map out a plan to show the love of God not only in word, but also in deed and in truth!

But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:17-18).