Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Back to Rurality, TJ Freeman discusses the importance of love as outlined in scripture, emphasizing that love starts in the mind and often requires intentional, sacrificial actions. He shares practical tips for loving neighbors and handling difficult relationships. This episode also concludes our Rural Reset Series!

Key Points:

• Not Sure How to Love Your Neighbor? Maybe you have a family member who is really irritable and hard to love. Maybe it seems like that one neighbor is out to rile up your family. It is natural for us to struggle to love others. That's why the Bible says we have to bear with one another in love!
• Ever Tried Renewing Your Mind? When we really are struggling to love someone, we can take that cycle of angry thoughts against them and start replacing them with thankful, loving thoughts towards that person. We can commit to starting to love them in our minds. 
• What Is Love Anyway? Love is a commitment  or a decision to do what is best for the other person, actively, sacrificially, and unconditionally regardless of feelings to the glory of God.

Listener Takeaways:

• Meditate: Meditate on God's word. God's word will renew our minds and transform it. (Romans 12)
• Intentional: Intentionally love others by praying with them, writing them a note, or going out of your way to bless them. (Ephesians 4)
• Navigate: Navigate hard relationships with grace. It will often take dying to yourself, but that is exactly what we are meant to do! (Philippians 4)
• Depend: Depend on God's Strength. We are not able to love others out of our own strength. We are going to fail, but we want to keep trying to love others to honor the Lord and share his love with our neighbors. Remember that we love because he first loved us! (1 John 4)
  
  

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