This is my 24^th entry out of 30 on the word “let” in the Bible.

I Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Standing alone, this verse can seem unrealistic, out of reach to mere mortals, and a bit too soft to get ahold of. To dismiss the idea that this is soft, look at the previous verse: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” This isn’t a call to weakness, indulgence, or simply forbearance.

The call to do everything in love is a call to a radical realignment of our motivations and expressions. It is not a call to a specific emotion, but a call to action. Obedience to the call may well bring a sense of peace and joy, and perhaps the sensing of God’s love and tenderness to us. But ultimately, this is a call to a complete motivational recalibration.

We look in vain to our hearts and minds to find the power to follow this call. In and of ourselves, we don’t have the love necessary to do anything in real love, much less “all”! This love is only found in Christ, and our expression of it only comes when we are so aligned with Him, so connected to Him, that we can become that vessel of love.

For many of us, it’s helpful to remember, and connect with the idea, that God loves whoever we have to deal with. When His love aligns with our natural affections, as with our family or close  friends, it’s easy to have His love flow to others. But there are times when we must reckon it to ourselves that despite how we feel, there is love available for us to express to each person that crosses our path.

Of course, scripture tells us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), and sometimes the truth needs to be spoken. But we all know that there are many ways of responding to others (kindly, evasively, abruptly, derisively, etc.), and if we are tempted to respond to another in something less than love, then we need to keep opening enough tabs of options until we open up the one that says “love.”

The ”let” of expressing the love of the Lord takes work, sometime a great deal of it. We need to “swipe” past every other expression we might want to let loose until we finally arrive at love. But remember that the work isn’t to find love somewhere in ourselves outside of our connecting to Jesus. Nor is it to default to a kind of neutral stance that is devoid of judgment, anger, or condescension (which is admittedly a better choice than being judgmental, angry, or condescending). The work is to find HIM, and then to let the love we find there flow through us to others.