God doesn’t want us to think too much of ourselves — but He never intended for us to think too little of ourselves, either. When you and I accept His love for us as individual people who were made in His image, then we can start to view ourselves in a correct perspective as valuable to and for Him. And when we allow Him to love us and we respond by loving Him back, we’re better able to love the people around us.

When Jesus commanded us to love one another, He knew that would require us to love people who we don’t always like. It’s easy to love people who think and act like us; it’s something entirely different to love people we disagree with or are even repulsed by. But when we love others — even when it’s hard — we show the world the type of love that God has for them.

In the same way that it delights a parent when their child obeys and desires to do things for them, God is delighted when we obey and serve Him. When we live our lives to please the Lord, we’ll be amazed by the ways He uses us to touch others — and the ways He rewards us all the while.

The world’s way is to base how we love others on how they first loved us. God’s way is for us to love others based on how He first loved us. When we have a healthy relationship with the Lord, we understand the depths of His unconditional love, and we can’t help but extend the same selflessness to the people around us.

Have you ever done something because you were motivated out of guilt? God doesn’t want that from us — He wants our hearts to be motivated out of our love for Him. When we do things out of obligation, we only end up burned out and resentful, but when we serve out of a genuine heart of love and gratitude for Him, then we’ll be in it for the long haul and we’ll do it with an attitude of joy.

Maybe you grew up in a loving family, or maybe being part of one always felt like an impossible dream. Regardless of where we came from, we’re offered that very opportunity through God the Father — but it comes with responsibilities. God commands us as His children to love others as we love ourselves. As part of the family of God, we need our brothers and sisters to love us and be loved by us, too.

When you do something nice for another person, are you doing it to please God, or to prove something to the world? Our Father doesn’t want our religious good deeds; He wants action that flows out of a heart that’s in genuine relationship with Him. When we’re walking in step with the Lord, it’s evident in our relationships with the people He’s placed around us and called us to serve.

One of the most powerful ways we can demonstrate that we love God is by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ — regardless of our differences. When we make the decision to follow Jesus, we’re called to love other people in such a way that it makes the world stop and take notice. When those outside the Church look at us, may they see God working in us and through us by the way we love one another!

Scripture instructs us that we’re to care for the marginalized — the widows, the orphans, the poor, the sick — but too often, we segregate ourselves from the very people we’re called to love. When we obey God and give sacrificially of ourselves to bless others, it’s as if we’re giving to Jesus Himself.

God knows each one of us by heart — the good, the bad, and the ugly. He knows all of our sin, and all the times we’ve chosen other things above Him. Yet still He chose to send His Son to die for us. When we begin to more fully comprehend the depths of His love for us, we can start to love Him and other people in a new and selfless way.

God designed His Church to be a family — a body of people who love, mentor, support, and freely give to one another. We’re called to be others-focused, not self-focused. All that we have is ultimately God’s, and how we give back to Him is reflected in how we show His love toward other people.

1 John 4:12 tells us, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” We live in a world that’s been broken by sin, and the only way to repair it is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When He lives in us, His love for others flows through us, and we’re used by Him to change the world around us.