New Life Pastor Steve Abraham: “Let love be your highest goal”

By Michael Hernandez

OXNARD–”Let love be your highest goal” said New Life Pastor Steve Abraham during live stream Sunday services. “We are to love people unconditionally, deeply and fervently.” 

Pastor Abraham reading from John 13:34-35 said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

According to Pastor Abraham: We have received:

1. The command to love one another: “It is possible that I can love people around me? True love is not just a feeling.”
2. The example of love (always Jesus): “I am to love people as Jesus loved me. You are to love the people around you, those at work, school, family, those hard to get along with. In the natural, it is impossible, but the key is that God empowers us, equips us with the Holy Spirit and makes it possible to love the most unlovable people.”

• True love is selfless: “Giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10). “The older, the more mature you should be. Yet, I know adults who are in their 40s and 50s who have matured in age but are not less selfish than when they were a teenager. God calls us to selfless love.”
• True love is steadfast: “It is dedicated, faithful, relentless and unwavering. To many of us, love someone with a but…(until) you disagree with  me, disappoint me, anger me.”
• True love is serving: “…Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).    “To be great in the kingdom of God you must be selfless, steadfast and serving. “Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

“God wants us to go on a mission of love for a lifetime. What would our marriages, families, workplaces look like, if we laid down our agendas and our rights? What sets us apart as followers of Jesus is how well we love.”

Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].

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