Spreading Love: When One Act Leaves a Lasting Trail

Spread Love • Share Faith • Leave Light™

One of the things I love most about being a Christian is that we have the opportunity to show others who God is—not simply through what we say, but through the way we love them.

Two verses help us understand what that looks like:

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35 NKJV“

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:39 NKJV

These words are beautifully simple. Living them out, however, can sometimes be difficult.

The good news is that God does not ask us to love perfectly. He asks us to keep following Jesus and allow Him to teach us how to love more like He does.

More Than Believing

A disciple is more than someone who believes in Jesus. A disciple chooses to follow Him, learn from Him, and increasingly live like Him.

Romans 10:9–10 tells us that when we confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Salvation is God’s gift to us; it is not something we earn.

But accepting that gift is the beginning of a new life with Him.

Discipleship is not about earning our salvation—it is our response to it. Because we have been loved by Jesus, we begin learning how to love others.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus continually showed us what love looks like. He cared for the sick, restored those who had been cast aside, fed people who were hungry, and gave hope to those who felt forgotten. He did not merely speak about love; He stepped into people’s lives and met them in their need.

Jesus gave love hands and feet.

What Does Love Look Like Today?

It is easy to read those stories and think, That was a different time. What can I possibly do that compares to that?

But spreading God’s love rarely requires a grand gesture.

I tell the ladies in my Bible study that when someone unexpectedly comes to mind—especially someone they have not thought about in a while—it may be a prompting to reach out.

Send the text.
Make the call.
Share a funny video.

Ask how they are really doing.A small act of kindness may be exactly what someone needs to remind them that they are seen and loved.

Sometimes, however, a simple act of obedience travels much farther than we could ever imagine.

A Christmas Under the Cherry Tree

Life was difficult for my mom—who is amazing, by the way—when she suddenly found herself single at 27 with four children to feed.

She did her best to protect us from the financial struggles she carried. She always put us first and worked hard to give us a childhood filled with joy.

Early in her Christian walk, she became part of an amazing church. That community surrounded our family with love. Friends helped watch us when needed, the church gave my mom a job, and we were provided with schooling. In so many practical ways, people stepped forward to show God’s love to a single mother and her four children.

One Christmas, when I was about six or seven years old, the four of us woke up excited to see what had been left under the tree. We had humble presents to open, candy and gifts in our stockings, and a mom who watched with love and tenderness as we enjoyed them.

At some point that morning, I stood at the kitchen sink and looked out the window.

There, beneath the cherry tree in our backyard, was a pile of presents.

You can only imagine the squeals of joy that filled our house! Before my mom could get coats onto four excited children, we ran outside to see what was waiting for us.

There were bicycles or big wheels for each of us, toys, clothes, and even gifts for my mom.

As a child, I was simply thrilled by the presents. As I grew older, however, I began to understand the love behind them.

Someone had noticed our family. Someone had listened to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Someone had used what God placed in their hands to bless a struggling mother and her children.

Those gifts did more than give us a joyful Christmas. They showed my mom that she was not alone. They showed four little children that God saw us, knew our circumstances, and had sent people to love us in a way we could understand.

The people who left those gifts beneath that cherry tree spread more love than they probably ever imagined.

Their kindness did not end on Christmas morning. It planted something in my heart—a desire to notice others, to give when I can, and to become part of someone else’s reminder that God sees them too.

That is what happens when we spread love: one act of obedience can leave a trail that continues for generations.

What Is in Your Hands?

If I could speak to the people who blessed my family that Christmas, I would tell them what their kindness meant to me. I would tell them that because of what they did, I learned that God is present in our struggles and that He gives good gifts—sometimes through the willing hands of His people.

What has God placed in your hands that you could use to bless someone else?

It does not need to be expensive or extraordinary. Sometimes spreading love looks like paying for a cup of coffee, delivering a meal, sending an encouraging text, or simply making time to listen.

Pay attention to the quiet tug on your heart. Someone may need the particular kindness God has equipped you to give.

You may think it is only one small gesture.

But like glitter, love has a way of traveling farther than we can see—and leaving a little light wherever it lands.

Spread Love • Share Faith • Leave Light™