Do You Love Me?

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Do You Love Me?

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ -Matthew 25:40

We are eager to emphatically consume all of Jesus. With arms outstretched, we shout, “Here I am Jesus! Love on me! I want all of you!”

And we should want all of Jesus. We should desire to be so closely identified with Him that it’s evident from within our own hearts and to the world that we belong to Him as His beloved followers.

Yet, He asks again, “Do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,…you know that I love you” (John 21:15). Look at how we keep our temples clean for you, Lord. We safeguard our eyes, ears, and mind- consuming a healthy playlist of praise and worship music, as well as faith-based video content on TV and social media. We carefully choose our friends from Christian circles, and we’re discerning as to what we put in our bodies. We spend our time at church on Sundays and prayer gatherings during the week. We spend time with Jesus in reading His Word, giving praise to Him and worshipping Him. We’re intentional for our temples to be holy, for the Lord is holy, and He indwells within us (1 Peter 1:14-16).

Yet, in becoming laser-focused on the love, grace, and mercy that we want from Jesus, He asks once more, “Do you love me?”

Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).

Jesus wants us to love Him by feeding His sheep, and taking care of them.

We overlook this command, as He says “Love me by loving on others. Love me by loving on the unloveable. Love me by lifting up the overlooked, and taking care of the rejected, the unseen, the difficult, the lost, the hurting, and the needy. Share the life-giving Gospel of me with them” (Matthew 25:35-40).

We too often want to love Jesus in the way humans love on one another, as we want to love, as an emotion and a response to our Savior loving us. We don’t want to love Him by feeding His sheep and loving on them. It’s not a natural feeling.

Loving Others Is Uncomfortable

In addition to not being a natural feeling for us, what other reasons do we have for not loving on others, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ?

You may have walked out of a chaotic history of being in the world, a prodigal son or daughter. As a result of painful experiences with sin, loneliness, betrayal, abuse, and trauma, you desperately want to wrap yourself tightly in the warm blanket of God’s grace and mercy. It’s not too different than Peter’s response to Jesus washing his feet: “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” (John 13:9).

Consuming as much of Jesus as we can makes us feel safe. It may be a response to the constant doubt from the enemy that we are still that sinner who needs to earn God’s love to be accepted. How could we possibly love on others and share the Gospel when we’re still trying to feel “good enough” for God?

Friend, if you are a follower of Christ, you accepted the free gift of salvation from Him. You can’t earn more of His love, for He already has immeasurable love for you. It’s not possible for Him to love you more. And there’s nothing you can do to make Him pull His love away from you.

But There’s Fear

Other humans are the ones who have hurt us, and have the potential to hurt us again. We’re afraid our own faith will suffer or topple, especially when the world wants to shoot us down at any opportunity. We’re afraid that we’ll be exposed for what we don’t know about scripture. We know how to love on a perfect Savior who loves us unconditionally, but we don’t know how to love on the flawed and imperfect, fearing awkwardness or rejection. We want a Savior, a King to serve and worship. But, to lean into another human being’s needs and we seem to inch away. And perhaps your spiritual life is suffering because of this one obstacle.

We Need the Holy Spirit

Jesus knows it’s not a natural feeling for us. Most things the Lord calls us to do is out of our comfort zones. But it’s for our good. In God’s perfect plan and design, the work and the power of the Holy Spirit is needed to truly humble us, to become suffering servants like our Lord Jesus. We need to be willing to “wash the feet of others,” for Jesus says “now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:12-17).

When we pray for the Holy Spirit’s help, He takes our attention off our own pain and problems for a moment, and gives us the power, boldness, and courageousness to be the hands, feet, and voice for Jesus. And through this, we become blessed, bringing a peace to our own life (John 13:12-17).

Loving Looks Like…

Loving as Jesus wants us to love is not simply being polite. It’s truly loving- to give attention, time, and ears to others. It’s kindness, compassion, and empathy. It may mean going down into the depths of someone else’s pain or differing perspective. But take heart, the Holy Spirit knows exactly what you need, and will provide. Pray for that wisdom and discernment.

If you lack that ability to sincerely love on other people, start with asking how they are doing. Take an interest in what they do, how they spend their time, what lights them up, what are their prayer needs. It’s a genuine smile, and being present. It’s turning your body towards them to show interest despite what other noise is around. With eye contact, make them feel that they have your undivided attention.

If you love Jesus, and wish to draw nearer to Him, take care to feed His sheep, to love Him by loving others.

And if this is you, will you pray over this today, for God to make this change in you? 

Lord Jesus, I come to you in a posture of absolute surrender to you. I repent and ask for Your forgiveness for any disobedience. I pray that you reveal the things to me that I’ve been blind to, to the areas where I’ve been fearful and stubborn. I want to love you fully by loving on others. I don’t want to simply consume anymore. I want to help feed your sheep. I pray all of these things in your powerful and almighty name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Health

Sunlight for Health: What You Need to Know

From providing vitamin D to reducing high blood pressure and boosting mood, the following outlines the potential benefits of sunlight to our health.

☀️ Sunlight Provides Vitamin D

Being exposed to sunlight enables your body to make vitamin D from cholesterol in your skin cells. Known as the “sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D benefits your health including: 

• Supporting your bone and muscle health

• Regulating your blood pressure

• Regulating your immune system

• Maintaining the health of your blood vessels

• Keeping your brain working well

• Regulating your blood sugar

☀️ Sunlight Strengthens Bones

Vitamin D supports bone health. This vitamin helps your body absorb calcium, which is essential for strong bones and helps prevent conditions like osteoporosis and osteopenia. And having good bone health can also help you avoid bone fractures (breaks). 

☀️ Sunlight Kills Bacteria

Indoor environments can contain dust that carries different types of bacteria — some of which can trigger asthma and allergy symptoms. 

One study found that sunlight can kill the bacteria that lives in dust indoors. In this particular study, 1 in 8 bacteria survived in a darkroom environment, but only 1 in 16 dust bacteria survived after being exposed to sunlight. 

Open windows and let more sunlight into your home. As the UV rays kill bacteria that live in the dust in your home, your air quality may improve.

☀️ Sunlight Can Improve Sleep Quality

Sun exposure plays a big role in maintaining your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm. Generally, your circadian rhythm responds to the sun’s light-dark cycle, helping you fall asleep at night (when there’s darkness) and wake up in the morning (when there’s light). So you can try using the sun’s light-dark cycle to improve your sleep hygiene. 

For instance, experts recommend being in bright sunlight in the morning to increase your chances of falling asleep earlier in the evening. Exposure to sunshine in the morning increases your melatonin levels. And melatonin plays a key role in regulating your body’s circadian rhythm and helping you sleep when it gets dark. 

☀️ Sunlight Boosts Mood 

Getting enough sunlight can help lessen the likelihood of having mood disorders, such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a type of depression that usually occurs in the fall and winter, when there’s less sunlight. 

Experts don’t know the exact cause of SAD, but a lack of sunlight may affect the way the brain’s hypothalamus works. This effect may make it harder for your circadian rhythm to time certain functions, like waking up. As a result, you may be more likely to experience SAD symptoms, such as feelings of despair or fatigue. 

Plus, not getting enough sunlight can result in lower serotonin levels, which can contribute to depression.

☀️ Sunlight Can Boost Your Immune System

Sunlight can help fine-tune your immune system in two separate ways. First, your body gets a lot of vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D is essential for a healthy immune system. Second, sunlight provides UV light. Since we often hear negative things about UV light it may come as a surprise that UV light can actually be helpful. The truth, though, is that in some cases UV light can actually be good for your immune system.

☀️ Sunlight Is Associated with Weight Loss

Multiple studies have shown that exposure to sunlight is associated with having a lower body mass index (BMI). There haven’t been enough studies to show that sunlight actually causes weight loss, though. It could be that people who have lower a BMI happen to spend more time outdoors, which causes them to get more sunlight.

Nevertheless, scientists think that it’s possible that sunlight can actually help with weight loss. Getting sunlight affects vitamin D levels, the release of nitric oxide in the body, and other biological pathways related to weight. Because of this, scientists think it’s possible that sunlight itself might actually affect your weight directly. If nothing else, sunlight has been shown to boost your mood, which may make you more inclined to go outside and be active.

How Much Sunlight Should You Get Per Day?

Depending on your skin tone, you may be able to get the daily recommended amount of sun exposure in as little as 10 minutes. 

People with darker skin tones have more melanin, a molecule that serves as a natural sunscreen. But this can also make it a little harder to get enough sun exposure. So it takes more time in sunlight to get its benefits if you have a darker skin tone. 

Here is how much sunlight experts recommend based on your skin tone:

• Lighter skin tones: 10 to 15 minutes a day

• Darker skin tones: 25 to 40 minutes a day 

Where you live also matters:

• If you live in tropical areas where the sun is stronger, you might need less time in the sun to get your recommended exposure

• If you live up north where the sun isn’t as powerful, you might need more time outdoors to get the right daily dose of sun exposure for you 

When Is The Best Time To Get Sunlight?

Any time you can fit some sunlight into your schedule is a good time. But research suggests that you absorb the most sunlight around noon. 

Experts believe the timeframe from 10AM and 1PM is optimal for sun exposure, because you get plenty of UVB rays — which allow your body to create vitamin D — while minimizing your risk for skin cancer from UVA rays.

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_{†All health information in the articles is exclusively gathered from clinical/medical resources that have been industry vetted, with no conflict of interest in the information they present/publish.} 

_{*Holy Nutrition does not diagnose, treat, or give medical advice. Information provided is not medical advice and should not be relied upon for diagnosis or treatment. Consult with a healthcare provider or medical practitioner for any health concerns, questions, or before making any decisions related to your health. Individual health conditions and needs may vary, and therefore, professional medical advice is essential for personalized guidance. Holy Nutrition is not responsible for any harm or damage resulting from the user's reliance on the information contained in the articles.}