Twelve Ways to Love
Listen without interrupting. (Proverbs 18:13 CEV). - It's stupid and embarrassing to give an answer before you listen.
Speak without accusing. (James 1:19 CEV). - My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry.
Give without sparing. (Proverbs 21:23-27 CEV). - Watching what you say can save you a lot of trouble. If you are proud and conceited, everyone will say, "You're a snob!" If you want too much and are too lazy to work, it could be fatal. But people who obey God are always generous. The Lord despises the offerings of wicked people with evil motives.
Pray without ceasing. (Colossians 1:9 CEV). - We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything He wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that His Spirit gives.
Answer without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1 CEV). - A dry crust of bread eaten in peace and quiet is better than a feast eaten where everyone argues.
Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15-17 CEV). - Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love. As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people.
Enjoy without complaint. (Philippians 2:13-16 CEV). - God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey Him. Do everything without grumbling or arguing. Then you will be the pure and innocent children of God. You live among people who are crooked and evil, but you must not do anything that they can say is wrong. Try to shine as lights among the people of this world, as you hold firmly to the message that gives life. Then on the day when Christ returns, I can take pride in you. I can also know that my work and efforts were not useless.
Trust without wavering. (1 Corinthians 13:7 CEV). - Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.
Forgive without punishing. (Colossians3:12-13 CEV). - God loves you and has chosen you as His own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.
Promise without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12-13 CEV). - Not getting what you want can make you feel sick, but a wish that comes true is a life-giving tree. If you reject God's teaching, you will pay the price; if you obey His commands, you will be rewarded.
Honor without fail. (Hebrews 13:4 KJV). – Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers (immoral) and adulterers God will judge.
Love God by keeping the Ten Commandments (John 14:15 GNB). - "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments."
"The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8 ISV).
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17 KJVR).
Matthew 25:31-46 ISV
(31) "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
(32) All the nations will be assembled in front of him, and he will separate them from each other as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
(33) He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.
(34) "Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
(35) For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.
(36) I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'
(37) "Then the righteous will say to him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
(38) When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
(39) When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'
(40) The king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, in that you did it for one of the least important of these my brothers, you did it for me.'
(41) "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!
(42) For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink.
(43) I was a stranger, and you didn't welcome me. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
(44) "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn't help you?'
(45) Then he will say to them, 'Truly I tell you, in that you did not do it for one of the least important of these, you did not do it for me.'
(46) These people will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
Matthew 13:18-23 ISV
(18) "Listen, then, to the parable about the sower.
(19) When anyone hears the word about the kingdom yet doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
(20) As for what was sown on the stony ground, this is the person who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy,
(21) but since he doesn't have any root in himself, he lasts for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls away.
(22) As for what was sown among the thornbushes, this is the person who hears the word, but the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of wealth choke the word so that it can't produce a crop.
(23) But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown."
Matthew 13:34-43 ISV
(34) Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
(35) This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet when he said, "I will open my mouth to speak in parables. I will declare what has been hidden from the foundation of the world."
(36) Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field."
(37) He answered, "The person who sowed good seed is the Son of Man,
(38) while the field is the world. The good seed are those who belong to the kingdom, while the weeds are those who belong to the evil one.
(39) The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
(40) Just as weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at end of the age.
(41) The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes others to sin and those who practice lawlessness
(42) and they will throw them into a blazing furnace. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
(43) Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Let the person who has ears listen!"
James 1:22-24 I
"Then be doers of the Word, and not only hearers, deceiving your own selves Because if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, this one is like a man considering his natural face in a mirror Who, after looking at himself, went away and immediately forgot what he was like."