Loving People the Way God Calls Us To: Biblical Love in Action
Love is one of the most talked about and most misunderstood concepts in both the church and the world. But what does it actually mean to love people the way God calls us to? In this episode of the Fostering Faith Podcast, we unpack biblical love — what it looks like in real life, why it’s harder than it sounds, and how the Holy Spirit empowers us to love even when our flesh wants to give up.
The world teaches us that love is a feeling — something you fall in and out of based on how people treat you. But Scripture defines love completely differently. Biblical love is a choice. It’s a commitment that flows from our relationship with God and extends outward to every person He places in our path.
What Biblical Love Actually Looks Like
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives us the clearest picture of what love is and what it isn’t. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. This is not a passive, feelings-based love. This is active, intentional, Christ-fueled love that requires discipline, sacrifice, and grace.
Real love shows up in how we treat difficult people. It shows up when we serve without recognition. It shows up when we choose to forgive someone who hasn’t apologized. It shows up in the quiet moments when no one is watching.
Loving People Doesn’t Mean Tolerating Everything
One of the most important things to understand is that biblical love is not weakness. Jesus loved people fully and still called sin what it was. He flipped tables in the temple. He spoke hard truth to the Pharisees. He told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. Loving people the way God calls us to means being truthful, even when the truth is uncomfortable. Grace and truth always travel together.
Love also does not mean enabling harmful behavior or staying in relationships without any boundaries. Loving someone can absolutely include holding firm to godly limits while still extending compassion and grace.
How to Love the Hard-to-Love
This is where it gets real. Some people are hard to love. Some relationships drain you. Some situations feel impossible. But here is what the Word says: Romans 5:5 tells us that God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The love you need to give is already inside you if Christ is in you. You don’t manufacture it — you draw from it.
When loving someone feels impossible, go back to the source. Pray for them. Ask God to soften your heart. Ask Him to let you see that person the way He sees them. That prayer changes things.
Key Scriptures for This Episode
John 13:34-35 — “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Romans 12:9-10 — “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
1 John 4:19 — “We love because he first loved us.”
Matthew 22:37-39 — “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Listen to This Episode
If you are struggling to love the people around you — or just want to go deeper in what it means to walk in God’s love — this episode is for you. Listen to the Fostering Faith Podcast wherever you stream, and visit fosteringfaithmedia.com/devotions for devotionals to take this message even further.
