15 Ways to be a Loving Person
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It does not dishonor others, it is not self- seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Being a loving person takes work. It is especially hard in the world we live in.
But there is hope for us.
We can be loving.
Sometimes it feels like everything just takes SO much work.
But we are children of God. We are to love like HE loves.
I know God loves me, and I’m sure when it comes to me being a loving person He’s saying, “Try it again. You will get it.”
I’m pretty sure He is saying that hundreds of time each day for me alone.
When it comes to loving others, we have to encourage ourselves to “Try it again.” It’s important to listen for His instruction to “Try it again.”
With that in mind, I wanted to list some ways that we can be more loving toward each other and even ourselves. Hey, we deserve to be loved too.
If we don’t love ourselves, how can we love others?
The verses from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, encourage me to try my best to be more of a loving person, hopefully if you’re struggling with this, it will help you too.
Here are the 15 ways I’m learning to be more of a loving person.
1. LOVING PEOPLE ARE PATIENT
We have to be patient with ourselves first.
If we’re going to treat each other the way we want to be treated, we have to figure out how we want to be treated.
I want people to have patience with me, so I need to be patient with myself.
Most of the time, we are our worst critics.
Give yourself some grace, and you can learn to give it to others.
2. LOVING PEOPLE ARE KIND
Kindness almost seems like a myth these days.
Does it seem that way to you?
Our God is kind!
We should be kind too!
How can we show others the kindness of our Savior?
3. LOVING PEOPLE APPRECIATE WHAT THEY HAVE
I’m not saying don’t work for more. I’m always working for more, but I also appreciate what I have.
I thank God for my blessings.
my family
my home
my peace
These are gifts from God and I appreciate them so much.
Daily gratitude helps me to remember how blessed I am.
Try counting your blessings and see if it makes you more of a loving person.
4. LOVING PEOPLE DON’T BRAG
God is the reason for everything good in my life. I really believe that!
Since He is the reason for it, I can’t brag about anything.
I will boast about HIM and celebrate what HE’s done for me.
But…I won’t forget that I’m not the reason good things happen I my life.
I’m blessed and because of that, God wants me to be a blessing to others.
What He gives me isn’t to make me think I’m better than anyone, it’s to help me to remember to help His people.
5. LOVING PEOPLE ARE NOT PRIDEFUL
I believe that we should have pride in ourselves, but we shouldn’t be prideful.
What does that mean?
Of course, we should be proud of who God made us to be – having pride.
But we shouldn’t be prideful – filled with arrogance and looking down our noses at others.
Certainly, all of us are masterpieces of God.
We should love each other.
Everyone deserves to be encouraged.
When we live with pride – without being prideful, we become true examples of God.
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6. LOVING PEOPLE DON’T PUT OTHERS DOWN
This one goes along with the #4 and #5 above.
We shouldn’t look down on others.
Putting others down can happen in so many ways.
Gossip
Mean comments
Not standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves
These are things I taught my middle schoolers not to do, when I was teaching.
It’s so much easier to lift each other up.
As children of God, we don’t have to sing and hold hands, but we should be adding value to the world, not taking from it.
7. LOVING PEOPLE KNOW THAT LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT OURSELVES (SELF-SEEKING)
The Bible instructs us on many occasions to put others first. One thing I have learned is that life is NOT all about me.
Surely, it has been a painful lesson, and that’s okay.
Learning to put others first takes time. Helping others is important, even if it means I have to go without something I want.
God has blessed me with the things I need.
Taking time to help others is rewarding. Knowing that you do things for people and don’t expect anything in return is truly a great feeling.
Caring for others helps me take my focus off my problems, and they don’t seem so big, at times.
I’m trying to serve others more. Putting others first can be hard to do, but it’s what the word instructs us to do.
8. LOVING PEOPLE SHOW GRACE
Can we say it enough?
Show grace to others.
Give people a chance.
We all mess up, and we need people in our corner who will say, “It’s okay, try it again.”
If you have never messed up, you may not understand this.
As someone who has messed up too many times to count, I have realized that when people show me grace it means more than I could ever know.
Try it.
Show someone grace today. I’m sure it will help you feel better too.
Even if they don’t show gratitude, thank God for the opportunity to show grace.
9. LOVING PEOPLE DON’T REMIND OTHERS OF WHAT THEY DID IN THE PAST
Jesus told the men who caught the woman in adultery, whoever in this group of accusers has never sinned go ahead and throw your rock at her.
All the men walked away.
Not one of them cast their stone. (Sorry if you don’t know the story, and I ruined it for you by telling the end.)
As a matter of fact, the story shows that we all have sinned.
Furthermore, we allow our pasts to stop us from doing God’s work when we allow our pasts to condemn us. The pain from guilt is no fun.
If that’s the case, why would we do that to others?
Of course some people have done things to hurt us, but we even have to show them mercy, and not let them get the best of us.
Consequently, the longer we hold them to the past, that’s how long we stay in the past with them.
God has great things in store for us, and sometimes we may have trouble seeing that if we’re trying to hold others back.
Indeed, let’s move on from the past, and look forward to learning to love others.
10. LOVING PEOPLE DON’T ENJOY EVIL
Evil is from the enemy.
If we “delight” in evil we ultimately become like him.
Therefore, we shouldn’t delight in anything that has to do with the enemy.
God’s people are people of light. As a result, we are His goodness and positivity that some people never get to see.
And so, we are to fight against evil with God’s word and prayer.
We should be helping others learn that evil is wrong.
Let’s call it what it is. Evil is sin.
Since we are going to be loving people, evil has no place in our lives.
We can only be one or the other. There’s no evil in God, so we should strive to make sure there is none in us.
11. REJOICE IN THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD
God’s word is TRUE!
His great love and truth for us is spread throughout His word.
It’s important for us to read HIS word on a daily basis. When we do, it reminds us of HIS truth.
Reminders of God’s truth, through His word, give us reason to rejoice.
Furthermore, when we learn how to rejoice we can share God’s word with others, so they have a reason to rejoice.
Sharing is caring, right? It’s also loving.
If someone shares the Word of God, usually, that tells you they have love in their hearts.
The more we study God’s word, the more truth we find, and that gives us more opportunities to rejoice.
12. LOVING PEOPLE ARE PROTECTIVE
A loving person is protective.
Think about it. How many times have you had to protect a younger sibling or family member?
You did that out of love, as a matter of fact, you probably did it without thinking.
We also have to protect our hearts and minds because people will try to destroy them.
Also, we should speak up for those who can’t do it for themselves.
Like everything else we do, protecting others should be done in love.
13. LEARN TO TRUST
This is a tough one in the world we live in, but it’s not impossible.
Even though it seems like people are out for their own gain, we should try our best to trust others.
Honestly, I don’t get why people want to harm others. But I do know that God doesn’t want us to be so trusting that we allow others to harm us.
That’s why He teaches us discernment.
I try my best to trust others. But it’s best for me to be honest, in this situation. This is not where I win a gold medal.
It hurts when I learn I can’t trust someone.
Of course, I know there are some good people, and I will keep trusting until I find out otherwise.
Most of all, I put my trust in God.
When I do, that He leads me to the right people.
14. HOLD ON TO HOPE
When you have hope, you can be a loving person.
When you don’t have hope, it may feel like you don’t have anything to give.
My encouragement for you today is to seek God! He is where all hope is found.
Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way.
Truly, there is a reason to have hope. You are worth having hope. God made you and He wants you to know that you’re worth loving.
Today, may be a bad day. But try to find something good in it.
There were many days, in my past, when I thought life was hopeless.
Way too many to count!
But I wanted to believe there was a reason I was still here.
So, hold on to your hope, as bast you can.
Others need you more than you know.
15. DON’T GIVE UP
As long as you’re holding on to your hope, keep going.
This is part of the love for yourself.
DON’T GIVE UP!
Talk to God. Seek Him!
Read the Bible.
God has truth for you in there too.
Your life MATTERS!
I just believe that there is love in not giving up. There is love for you and for others.
CONCLUSION
I hope these tips help you to see what it means to be loving…if you didn’t already know.
We need love now more than ever.
Love conquers hate!
I will say, if you are struggling please seek help.
I’m not a doctor, I can’t diagnose or encourage you to do anything.
But I want to see you better!
If any of these tips speak to you, please let me know.
God loves you family, and so do I!
Aisha
