Our Love Covenant

Our Love Covenant
A guide for living a life of love following Jesus

INTRODUCTION

We believe the best way to let love flow is to follow the teachings of Jesus as described in the Gospels. This requires some guidance. We find that guidance in Jesus' own words. When challenged to choose the greatest commandment Jesus said:

"'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matthew 22 NLT)

This teaching provides a framework for following Jesus today. It contains THE FIRST TRIAD OF LOVE; loving God, loving neighbor and loving self.

We have come to understand that love involves feelings, thinking and behavior. We call this second triplet "the living of love." Living love involves the way we think (what we call wisdom) the way we feel (or experience) and our actual behavior (loving). Wisdom guides us in shrewd thinking about life, love and relationships. Experience relates to feeling God's love and presence and the feelings we have about others and our self. Loving relates to our behavior; what we actually do. Wisdom, Experience, and Loving IS THE SECOND TRIAD OF LOVE.

In addition a third component is the prayer, commitment and the discipline of love. We see Jesus calling his followers to a commitment; a commitment to love God, neighbor and self. THIS IS THE THIRD TRIAD OF LOVE.

These three units, the triad of love, the living of love and our prayer and commitment comprise Our Love Covenant. We view these three as interlocking, woven together and never ending and we use the symbol of the trinity knot to remind us of their nature and function.

Men and women experience spirituality differently. For example; women use their networks more efficiently while men tend to express their spirituality practically in terms of family, children, and financial issues. Consequently Our Love Covenant is written as a broad guide. Spiritual applications can be drawn for all easily. For example; Men and women will use Godly wisdom with children and finances but, perhaps, in different ways. We also believe that children have a developing spiritual life that must be nurtured and guided. The simplicity of Our Love Covenant is especially suitable for children.

OUR LOVE COVENANT, then, is our guide for and our commitment to letting God's love flow through our hearts as we follow Jesus in loving God, neighbor and self with wisdom, experience and love.


Our Love Covenant

I Will Love God!

Wisdom speaks to me about the value and necessity of loving God. God loves me and has demonstrated that love time and again throughout history and in the course of my own life. Logically I respond with love and worship God, the creator and sustainer of all existence and my own world. Wisdom guides my thinking and leads me to love and worship God.

Experiencing God's love happens two ways; publicly as I worship with others gathered as a people of God and privately. In both ways I intentionally enter into God's presence through mindfulness and prayer. As I am mindful of God's constant presence God speaks directly to my heart. God speaks to me in the beauty of nature, the creativity that God endows individuals, and in providing for me daily. I also experience God's presence as I look to scripture, particularly the teachings of Jesus. God speaks to me in the still small voice in my heart, and sometime I experience God in unexpected ways.

Loving is behavior. I demonstrate my love to God by my worship and prayer practices and by discipleship, which is following through on what God asks me to do in the teachings of Jesus. When combined with wisdom and experience, loving God brings balance to my life.

THE FIRST COMMITMENT AND PRAYER: Thank you, God, for sending Jesus to be my guide in loving you. I see the wisdom of loving you, as Jesus did. I value the experience of your presence, as Jesus did. And I will love you in my worship and prayers and by following your teachings. This is my commitment and my prayer, in Jesus' name, Amen.

 

I Will Love My Neighbor!

Wisdom speaks to me that my neighbor is more than the people living next door. My neighbor is every person on the earth especially those who need mercy. In Our Love Covenant I have chosen to make future generations my special neighbor. These children and unseen ones still stuck in time to be are especially vulnerable. The wisdom of loving our neighbor means thinking about them and planning for them as God would.

Experiencing love for my neighbor means feeling for them deeply, the way Jesus felt for people. Jesus revealed that each one is important regardless of their life situation. It means understanding them in their culture and how and why their culture is so important for them... even when I disagree with them. Experiencing love for neighbor means feeling for them and understanding them.

Loving neighbor means that I actually participate in helping programs and serve them, as Jesus did. His loving actions involved sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God, teaching, healing their diseases, feeding them, and spending time with them, among many other ways. In spite of my limitations, as followers of Jesus it is impossible for me not to help. Mercy and love work hand in hand.

THE SECOND COMMITMENT AND PRAYER: Lord Jesus, there is more than great satisfaction in loving our neighbor, even future generations. There is being more like you. I promise to love my neighbor the way you did, being active helping them, for in doing so I bring honor to your name. Amen.


I Will Love My Self!

Wisdom teaches me to love my self because God loves me. I am important to God, who wants nothing but my well-being. One of the greatest things I can do for my self is to understand the depth of God's love for me. When I do this my distortions about my self will disappear and I will think about my self the way God does.

Experiencing love for my self means feeling God's love. Experiencing love means feeling forgiveness, grace, compassion, self-discipline: well-being.

Loving my self means taking great care of my whole-self; spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and relationally. It means taking care of my body and my spirit. It means stopping destructive activities and engaging in wholesome ones. It means healing broken relationships and seeking healthy ones. It means expressing my unique giftedness. It means walking daily with God.

THE THIRD COMMITMENT AND PRAYER: Holy Spirit, give me the wisdom I need to care for my self. Let me experience all the feelings associated with love for my self and teach me to behave in God's loving ways for my life.

These three, then, loving God, loving neighbor and loving self, are my ways of following Jesus in living a life of love. May love flow from God's heart, to my heart, then to my world. This is my commitment and prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Signiture: _________________________________ Date ____________________


SOLEMNIZING OUR LOVE COVENANT

Simply print the covenant out, sign it and send a copy to Bryan@St-Pats.com

Bryan L. Martin wrote Our Love Covenant. It is former know as The River Covenant. This is the November 2008 version. If you would like an attractive brochure-like format of Our Love Covenant mailed to you click here and request one.