I have had the awesome privilege of meeting some of the world's greatest ministers of the Gospel, and I have thought things like, Wow, their faith walk must be tremendous.  And that was true.

     However, it wasn't their faith walk alone that made them so successful.  I came to find out that it was their love walk that really put them over.

     The habit of walking in love is probably the most important spiritual fruit that can be developed in order to live a victorious Christian life.  Why is this?  Because love never fails (I Cor. 13:8).  As you walk in love, you cannot fail!

      In the Old Testament God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. However, in the New Testament Jesus gave us a new commandment.

            JOHN 13:34

            34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one

            another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

     When you walk in this new commandment, the law of love, you're going to be fulfilling the Ten Commandments, because if you love your neighbor you're not going to steal from them.  If you love someone, you're not going to kill them, covet their belongings, or do anything else to harm them.

     I'll be honest with you: it takes work to develop your love walk.  But we know that love is a fruit of the Spirit, and you can grow in this fruit of love.  It is important to know that if you have been born again, then God's love is already abiding in you.

            ROMANS 5:5

            5…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy

            Ghost which is given to us.

     As a Christian, you have God's love in your heart.  When you were born again, you received God's love nature.  His love is part of you.  You do have love for others, even people who have treated you badly.  Now mind you, sometimes you have to stir up that love.

     Let's take a minute and talk about what love is not.  For one thing, love is not a feeling.  Often the devil will make you feel as though you're not walking in love if you're not experiencing "ooey-gooey," mushy love-feelings toward someone.

     But we must realize that love is a decision, not a feeling.  By faith, we must decide to release God's love and forgiveness toward those who have hurt us or done us wrong.

     Jesus told us that, in order for our prayers to be answered, we must not have any unforgiveness toward anyone.

            MARK 11:25

            25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against

            any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you

            your trespasses.

     First Corinthians 13:5 in The Amplified Bible says that love "pays no attention to a suffered wrong"!

     Notice that Jesus said in Mark 11:25, "forgive, if ye have OUGHT against ANY…."  Not long ago I was sitting in church, listening to a powerful sermon on love.  The preacher kept emphasizing that many of us may have some "oughts" and "anys" and perhaps we are noticing suffered wrongs.

     Well, her statements hit me right between the eyes.  Whenever I spend time with the Lord in prayer, I try to check my heart to make sure I have forgiven anyone who may have wronged me in any way.

     To be honest with you, when I checked my heart that day, I could find no unforgiveness in there.  That's not to say I haven't ever had to forgive anyone.  I've had to do that many times!  I was just making sure there were no traces of unforgiveness in my heart.

     That day I was cruising along, feeling as though I was doing pretty well in my love walk, until the preacher said, "We shouldn't even be noticing suffered wrongs."  Well, let me tell you, I had forgiven people, but I definitely had been noticing!

     I realized I had the bigger issues covered…bigger to me, that is.  But I was letting the "little things" slide, not realizing they were even there, thinking they were no big deal.  I saw that I had a couple of little "oughts" and "anys" I had to clear up in prayer.

     The devil will always try to bring little "oughts" and "anys" across your path.  For example, you might be in church and someone you know doesn't say hello to you, so you leave church feeling slighted.  Guess what?  You just noticed a suffered wrong.

Love Pays No Attention

     The Lord has dealt with me many times concerning areas where I have missed it in my love walk.  Even though the Bible tells us that love is not supposed to notice a suffered wrong, I recall a time when I did take notice and really yielded to the flesh.

     I had just finished writing a brand-new book and the publishing company had mailed me a copy of the cover.  I was really excited about it.  The cover was sitting out on my kitchen table when someone saw it, picked it up, looked at it, and said, "This is the ugliest book cover I have ever seen in my entire life."

     You can imagine what went through my mind.  The books were already being printed.  It was too late to change the cover.  To tell you the truth, the cover was fine.  I really think their comment just came out of their own insecurities. 

     I could have kept myself from getting offended.  But I paid great attention to this suffered wrong, and instead of walking in love, I retaliated with a "dig" of my own.  I said, "Well, one Christian bookstore pre-ordered and bought 4,000 copies because they

liked the cover so much.  That's a pretty good sale for the ugliest-looking cover you've ever seen!"

     I just had to open my big mouth and try to make myself look good.  But when I did, something happened.  I was extremely convicted by the Holy Spirit, and I asked the Lord to forgive me right on the spot.  I had let my flesh get the best of me by putting a little "dig" in to let them know how many of my books had been sold.  But if I had been walking in love, I would have paid no attention to this suffered wrong and just let it go.

Love Doesn't Keep Score

            I CORINTHIANS 13:5 (NIV)

            5 It [love] is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily

            angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

     Notice that love doesn't keep a record when someone has done them wrong.  Imagine what it would be like if the Lord kept a record of all of our sins and didn't erase them or forget them.  Boy, would we be in a mess!  So don't allow bitterness to set in.  I like the saying, "You can be bitter, or you can be better, but you can't be both."  One person said that harboring unforgiveness toward someone is like you drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick!

     Thank God for the blood of Jesus.  First John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  And in Hebrews 10:17 God says, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

     When you ask God to forgive you, He never remembers your sin ever again!  Psalm 103:12 says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."  If you are driving east and you keep driving east, do you ever hit west?  No, never!  That's what the Lord means.  He will never remember your sin again.

     If God doesn't keep score or records of our wrongs, then neither should we.  Are you keeping a record?  Are you keeping score and counting the suffered wrongs?  Do you keep reminding your spouse of some way they hurt you years ago and you won't let it go?  If you are doing that, it's time to let it go.  Once you forgive someone of something, you should never bring it up again.

            MARK 11:25 (Amplified)

            25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything

            against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it

            go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also

            forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let

            them drop.

     This scripture tells us that we should leave an offense, drop it, and let it go.  That means we should stop talking about it!  We shouldn't bring it up anymore.  We shouldn't keep score anymore.  Forgiveness is a gift given to those who don’t deserve it.  God gives it to us, and we can give it to others.  When we forgive, it's like canceling a debt.  We tear up the piece of paper in our mind, just like we would a loan agreement.  When we cancel the debt, the person owes us nothing!  Not one dime.  That means, as far as we are concerned, the other person does not even owe us an apology.  The debt has been canceled.

Don't Rob Yourself of a Blessing

     One time I discovered that I had been keeping score in a different way.  I was helping someone out and they didn't appreciate it.  I noticed how ungrateful they were and started keeping track of their ungrateful attitude.

     I was helping this person out because they didn't have a lot of money.  I treated them to expensive dinners several times, among other things.  I noticed that each time we went out to eat, they never thanked me for buying their meal.  Not once.

     As their not saying thanks became more frequent, I thought to myself, I wonder if they're ever going to say thank you.  I'm just going to count and see how many times I buy their meal before they say thank you.

     One day I was telling my mother how much money I had spent on this person and how they had never once thanked me.  I expected her to sympathize with me, but instead my mom said, "Kate, you're keeping score!  And besides that, you're robbing yourself of a blessing because you're wanting to be recognized for what you've done and therefore your motive in giving is wrong."

     Ouch!  She was right!  Don't misunderstand me.  I do believe that when someone blesses us, we should be thankful.  However, when we're the ones doing the blessing, we shouldn't be looking for things in return from them, but from God.  When we give, it should be with no strings attached.

Give People the Benefit of the Doubt

     Has anyone ever caused you to notice a suffered wrong that you hadn't noticed before?  You didn't even think about it until they brought it up, and then you thought, Hey! Yeah, they should have treated me better!

     One time the Lord revealed to me how I had allowed this to happen in my own life.  A few months after my mother moved to Heaven I was really missing her.  Not only was she a great mother, but she was my best friend.

     I had been thinking about all the wonderful love and support that was poured out toward me from ministers, partners, and friends all around the world.  Beautiful flowers were sent to the funeral home…friends and even well-known preachers just encouraged me so much with their love and support.  Some of them I didn't even know very well, but words cannot describe how much their care and concern meant to me.

     I was feeling overwhelmed by all the love and kindness I had received, until someone called me on the phone.  This person asked me point-blank if a certain ministry leader who I was close to had ever called or acknowledged my mother's death in any way.  I had to answer, "No."  The truth was, I hadn't even thought about it until this person asked me.

     As I hung up the phone, I started meditating on what this ministry leader had not done for me.  I thought, Hey, they're in the ministry, they're supposed to be my friend, and they don't even care that my mother died!

     As I was sitting in church listening to the same message I referred to earlier on love's "oughts" and "anys," the Lord brought this to my attention.  He revealed to me that I had noticed a suffered wrong and allowed an "ought" and an "any" to enter my own life.  An "ought" represents a grudge of unforgiveness, and an "any" simply represents any person.

     What I should have done was not take notice.  I should have given this friend of mine the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they were going through a very difficult time in their own life.  Besides that, how did I know that they hadn't been praying for me and my family?

     Most importantly, it's not my job t see to it that someone else is walking in love toward me.  It's my job to see to it that I am walking in love toward them.  Besides that, it's really none of my business what they do or how they act.

     All that aside, the person who called me and caused me to notice a suffered wrong should never have done that.  They really shouldn't have brought the matter to my attention.  They were just being petty, and we really have to watch out how much time we spend with people like that.  The devil was using them and they didn’t even know it.

     Likewise, we should see to it that we don't allow the devil to use us to do this same thing to someone else.  It's time that we all grow up.  I trust that telling you my own shortcomings might just make you feel a whole lot better when you miss it.

Get Your Mind Off of Yourself and

Bless Someone Else

     Thinking about what this ministry leader should have done for me really wasn't yielding to the love of God.  Besides that, I we meditate on what people haven't done for us, the truth is, we're being selfish and self-centered and feeling sorry for ourselves.  We need to get our mind off of ourselves and bless someone else.

     A woman I know recently lost her mother, and right after I lost my mother I spent a lot of time on the phone encouraging her, praying with her, and supporting her in ay way I could.  As a result of sowing love to her, I found that God started helping me.  That's what can happen when you get your mind off of yourself ad walk in love.

Faith Works by Love

     As a matter of fact, our love walk is so important that without it, our faith won't work.

            GALATIANS 5:6

            6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any

            thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by

            love.

     We can have all these other habits down pat and even perfected.  But if we're not walking in love, nothing is going to operate effectively in our life.

     One day I was praying the love scriptures from First Corinthians 13:4-8 from The Amplified Bible.  I substituted my name for the word "love" every time it was used.  Where it states, Love is kind," I said, "Kate is kind."  Where it says, "Love is patient," I said, "Kate is patient."  You get the picture.  (Making these confessions would be a great thing for you to do as well.)

     I was feeling so good about myself that morning concerning this area of walking in love toward people.  I was loving everyone that day!  Of course, it's very easy to walk in love when no one else is home!  I got ready to go to the office, still reciting some of those beautiful scriptures: "Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things endureth all things.  Kate bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."  I was really feeling good.

     I got into my new car that morning feeling all full of God's love.  I decided to pick up my mail at the post office and was reading a letter in the parking lot.  As I was sitting in my brand-new car reading through my mail, a lady pulled up alongside me, opened her door, and smashed her door into mine!

     I pretty much ignored it, thinking that she accidentally hit my door.  So I continued to read my letter.  All of a sudden she did it again!  I thought, That lady is just not having a good day.

     The third time, the lady made sure that I was looking and on purpose she smashed my car door with her not-so-new car.  She hit my door, slammed her door shut, then said some things to me that I won't repeat and stomped off mad into the post office.

     Remember, just five minutes before all of this happened, I loved everybody!  Now suddenly I didn't feel so loving.  In fact, I began meditating on what I was going to say to this woman when she came out of the post office!  Apparently I had parked too close to the line, not leaving her enough room to get out of her car comfortably, and it upset her.

     So there I was – presented with an opportunity to walk in the love of God that I had been speaking over myself earlier that day.  I have found that it is really easy to walk in love when you're by yourself.  When everyone else shows up, it's more difficult.  It's also easy to walk in love when people are sweet and kind to you.  However, the time we really need to exercise our love walk is when someone isn't kind to us, like that lady I encountered at the post office.

Hurting People Hurt People

     Really, it's our choice whether we are going to walk in love or yield to our flesh.  I asked myself, "What would love do in this situation?"  We should ask ourselves that when faced with a challenging circumstance.

     Well, love sure enough wouldn't get into a fight with this lady about a car door.  I could already see the newspaper headlines:  "Local Evangelist Beats Up Woman at Post office."  I decided the best thing to do was to avoid a confrontation.  Yes, this was my brand-new car, but cars are not more important than people.  I spent time after that really praying for her.

     Obviously that woman was hurting.  If my parking too close to the line upset her that much, she must really have needed my prayers.  Have you ever heard the saying, "Hurting people hurt people"?  We don't know what people are going through.  Perhaps she'd just lost a loved one.  She might have been on her way to the hospital to visit her husband who was terminally ill.  Or maybe she was going through a divorce.  We don't always know what motivates people to do unpleasant things, but you can be sure there usually is a reason.

     That's why it's so important for us as Christians to have compassion for others and show them the love of God.  Forbearance is a godly characteristic.  The more you grow in the love of God, the stronger you will become spiritually, and the more victory you will see in your life.  Make it your habit to develop a strong love walk because the Bible says, "Love never fails!" (I Cor. 13:8).

     Of the seven habits we have talked about in this book, this is by far the most important.  The Bible says that people will know we are Christians by the love we have for each other (John 13:34-35).  Let's show people the love of God by reaching out with His love.  Love really is the key to gaining victory and becoming an uncommon achiever.