Racecraft: Loving Others The Way God Intends

Racecraft pertains to the character and style of your on track actions. Some drivers are real aggressive, going for risky moves in the pursuit of glory, whereas others take a more precautionary approach to it; one where damage limitation sees them in victory lane. Racecraft then, is the main basis for driver interaction, or another way to say it: how they treat one another. Like our Racecraft on track, we need to develop the right behaviors to run a clean and competitive race in our own lives.

God. Is Love. Unconditionally and forevermore he proves his love to you even though we don't deserve it. He forgives us of our sin when we should be killed on the spot, gives us hope and a purpose, as well as gifts us the (true) desires of our hearts. Furthermore, God sent down his only son to die for us just so that we could live in heaven with him.

"We love because he first loved us. " - John 4:19

We don't deserve this immense love, we truly don't, but when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, we get that free gift. We then, should seek to spread that gift from God to the world and love in the same spirit that the Bible dictates Jesus did.

So how are we instructed to love? Here's three ways the Bible says we ought to live.

Bearing With One Another

God bears with us to no end. He cares about all our problems, listens when we rant, and repeatedly forgives us when we do him wrong. That's how we need to live. As written in Colossians 3:13, "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Who are we to receive something yet withhold it from someone else? God's love and continual patience to go through life with you was not yours to have, but yet you do, so we must aim to live out our lives in the same way. For if Jesus did it, we must imitate it to the best of our ability. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" John 13:34.

Treating Others As If They're Our Neighbors

On this Earth, Jesus preached and lived out the idea of treating everyone, even your enemies, as if they were your neighbor. When treating someone as your neighbor, that doesn't mean like sending them food when they move in, but rather like making them food when they're sick, taking care of their kids for an hour for then to go on a date, etc. Long story short, you need to treat them as if they're family, because in all honesty, they are. "We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen" 1 John 4:19‭-‬20. We cannot go on with selfish desires fulfilling our purposes blindly, whilst neglecting to live out our godly calling, which is to show the world the love of God. "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth" 1 John 3:18.

In The Image Of God

One final way we are called to love is in the image of God. God loves everyone, and being so, you need to aim to love that way as well. But furthermore, loving in the image of God takes it a step forward into loving others as greater than yourself. This doesn't mean we idolize others, as only God can be number one, but we, if we truly want to obey the Lord, must be servants like Jesus was. "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves" Romans 12:10.

"In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." Ephesians 5:28

John sums it up when he writes: "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God" 1 John 4:7 NIV. We have a duty as Christians to be God's hands and feet on this Earth, to spread his word and grow in our faiths. Being so, what better way to live and fulfill our purposes than with purposeful efforts to live out the love of the Lord.

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:14