When we yield to love, which is God’s very nature (He is love!), we begin to look and act like Jesus Himself would if He were living in our bodies—which, of course, He is! Instead of acting like carnal Christian babies, we do what Ephesians 4:15 says and grow up enfolded in love.

It’s love that causes us to grow up! It’s love that will bring us to our ultimate goal of being “the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection—the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ, and the completeness found in Him!” (Ephesians 4:13, amp).

I’ll warn you though, if you decide to take the path of love, there will be times when it seems as though love will make you the underdog instead of the victor. There will be times when you’re wrongly treated, and you’ll feel like it would be to your disadvantage to be patient, kind and long-suffering. Your flesh will rise up and say, “Now wait a minute! If I just keep on being kind and loving, people will run right over me.”

But that’s not true. You see, when you walk in love, you put yourself in a position where God Himself can protect you. When you quit seeking your own, He seeks your own for you. And He is a great One to have on your side, because when He is for you, no one can stand against you (Romans 8:31-39).

You can see that in the life of Jesus. He always walked in love—not just when people were praising Him and honoring His ministry, but also when He was being bitterly rejected and mistreated (1 Peter 2:23).

As a result, no man or demon could touch Him. When the people at Nazareth tried to throw Him off a cliff, He just walked through the midst of them. When the soldiers came to arrest Him in the Garden, He just said, “I am He,” and they all fell to the ground under the power of God (John 18:1-6). If Jesus had not given Himself up willingly, He never could have been crucified, for He alone had the power to lay down His life. No one could take it from Him because He lived the life of love.

Love is powerful! If you’re being mistreated, or if someone has hurt you deeply, yield to that powerful force of love on the inside of you. Let it rise up strong in you and overtake that hurt. When you do, not only will you be healed on the inside, you will be victorious over the schemes of the devil on the outside. When you walk in love, God is on your side. And when God is on your side, you can’t help but succeed. Love never fails.

Speak the Word

Enfolded in love, I grow up in every way and in all things into Christ. (Ephesians 4:15, amp)