9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
A few months after my friend’s wife died, he spoke about the support system that has held him up. These are some of the behaviors I believe the apostle Paul was talking about when he called us to keep our spiritual fervor:
People listened nonjudgmentally as my friend told his story repeatedly.
They prayed faithfully for him.
They understood that grief is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith, but the price of love.
They encouraged him to eat, exercise, and sleep well.
They remained aware of his vulnerability and the uniqueness of each person’s trials.
Loving someone whose life and experiences are very different from our own takes energy, time, and effort. Our spiritual fervor can wane when it costs more of our time or money or energy than we expect. But, in God’s strength, fervent love listens, encourages, and seeks to understand.
