An Atmosphere of Love

by Lynne Hammond | Uncategorized

When it came to my love walk, I was in big trouble. I was one of the touchiest people you had ever seen.
When I first found out about the importance of walking in love, I knew the only way to modify my behavior was going to be through the Word of God. So I diligently read the Bible looking for what I needed to do. The book of 1 John showed me that the New Testament commandment is to believe on the name of Jesus and to love one another. Then I found Galatians 5:14 that said if you would love, you would fulfill all the laws of God.

I thought, “This is easy. I’ll just walk in love.”

I quickly found out that wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Seemingly every morning before ten, I would have already stepped out of my love walk. I realized there had to be something more to this. I had a Jewish friend and she told me that there were 640 laws that the Jews had to obey. She asked me, “How many laws do you have to obey as a Christian?”

“One.”

“What is it?”

I replied, “It’s the law of love. We have to walk in love.”

She dryly answered, “Well, I’d rather try and obey 640 laws rather than that just one.”

How to Walk in Divine Love
The truth is, we can walk in the love of God. But how?

Number one: Get saved. When we are born again, the love of God is placed inside our hearts (Romans 5:5). You can’t walk in divine love unless you are born again. Even while understanding that truth, the key is to learn how to get that love inside of you out.

The second thing that you’re going to have to do is get 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 down inside your heart. These verses, particularly in the Amplified Bible, give you a clear definition of how God’s love acts.

First Corinthians 13:4-8 begins, “Love endures long and is patient and kind…”

Human love can endure long, but it certainly isn’t patient and kind in the process. Divine love endures long and is patient and kind while it’s enduring.

Verse four continues, “Love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.”

Love isn’t jealous. When you’re acting jealous, what is that? The flesh. “You see her? How come she got that promotion? I’ve been waiting for my promotion for years.” Remember, the love of God is on the inside of you. Reach down and let it come out by faith. How? By speaking it. Say to yourself, “Love endures long. Love is patient and kind. Love never is jealous.” Say it over and over again. Get some three by five index cards and write on them the part you’re having trouble with. Keep it with you. Confess it. And then watch the Word of God change you.

Verse five says, “It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride).” If you have pride in your life, you are in for a puncture and a great big fall (Proverbs 16:18). Divine love is never prideful.

First Corinthians 13 continues, “It is not rude (unmannerly)…” Some Christians say, “Well, I’ve always been rude. That’s just my personality to be rude.” It may be your personality, but even so, your personality needs to be overcome by the love of God. You don’t have to stay rude for the love of God is not rude.

What else do we need to know about love? “…and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking.”

Divine love never wants its own rights; it always wants to bless somebody else.

A Smoke Detector and a Weenie Roaster
When I first began meditating on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, I thought I was doing pretty good up until this point. And then I read the next part: “[Love] is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].”

I picked up my Bible and went “Wait a minute, something is wrong. Lord, this can’t be right. Love is not touchy? It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs?” I mean, my silver-haired, wonderful Christian grandma was touchy. My momma was touchy; all my aunts were “touchies.” I came from a whole line of “touchies.” On top of that, all of them kept great records. They remembered what everybody had done to them from generations way back.

I looked at this and knew I was in trouble. Big trouble.

I’ll tell you how much trouble I was in by telling you about our first anniversary. But before I do, let me warn you husbands and future husbands—never, ever give your wife anything that she needs as a present. Do you hear me? Never give your wife a broom. Never give your wife a mop. And never give your wife a vacuum cleaner.

We had waited for this day for so long. Mac was in pilot training, so we decided we’d take a Friday afternoon off and go up to Sea Island, Georgia. We saved up our money to go and were so happy when the trip finally came.

When we were driving to our destination, I could see two anniversary presents on the back seat for me. I had visions that those boxes contained a beautiful dress and a diamond ring. After we arrived at the hotel, I opened my gifts. I couldn’t believe it. I thought Mac was playing a joke on me because when I opened the first box, inside was a weenie roaster.

Just so you understand what I was going through, let me tell you about weenie roasters. I hated hot dogs. Mac loved hot dogs. I about gagged whenever I had to cook a hot dog for him. The reason I hated hot dogs so badly was because someone told me when I was a little girl that wieners were made out of ground up pig’s eyes. So I hated hot dogs. The other gift wasn’t that much better—when I opened the other box, I found a smoke detector inside.

There are two sides to every story, so I’ll explain my husband’s reasoning. He was a Second Lieutenant. You don’t make a lot of money as a Second Lieutenant and so we were buying hot dogs instead of hamburgers. Since I didn’t like hot dogs, I didn’t take much care about how I fixed them. I’d boil them and they’d burst and they wouldn’t fit in the bun, which apparently is frustrating for someone who enjoys eating hot dogs. From Mac’s perspective, we needed a weenie roaster! And he bought the smoke detector simply because it was the latest invention that came on the market. He thought it would be a good thing to have. (I can tell you one thing, Mac has never made that mistake again. Ever!)

As 1 Corinthians says, divine love doesn’t take an account of evil done to it. Yet at this point in my life, I wasn’t walking in that part of divine love yet. Every time I had an opportunity over the next five years, I would remind Mac of the weenie roaster and the smoke detector that he gave me as an anniversary gift.

When it came to my love walk, I was in big trouble. I was one of the touchiest people you had ever seen. So I worked to change that in me by writing down on index cards “Love is not touchy. Love is not fretful or resentful. Love never takes account of an evil done to it nor does it even notice a suffered wrong.”

I put the cards in strategic places of attack. For instance, I put one in my car because I was often tempted to get into the flesh there. For example, one day I picked up my kids from school. They hopped into the car and after a quick hello they said, “I’m starving. What’s for dinner?” Isn’t that always the first thing they say?

When I told them we were having meatloaf, all three of them in unison fell back into their seats with their eyes rolling back into their heads. My oldest child, the most dramatic of my kids, grabbed his throat and started gagging, “Ahhh meatloaf. I hate meatloaf. It’s like dog food.” My second son, who was a little more controlled and tried to act more mature, would cross his legs, slam his schoolbooks down, and say, “I guess I won’t be eating dinner tonight. I was going to have Johnny over, but even now I won’t be eating.” Our youngest one—she was kind of the whiner—would say in a weepy voice, “Meatloaf… I’m so hungry and I hate meatloaf. It has oatmeal in it and onions and I hate it. Sally always gets pizza at her house…”

When my kids went on like that, I had to remember that love is not touchy, fretful, or resentful. It never notices a suffered wrong.

You can see why I put them on the dashboard in my car.

Coffee, Crackers, and a Dose of Divine Love
Now the worst place of attack was my kitchen. And wouldn’t you know it, the worst tester of my love was my darling husband. We are sweethearts, and I love him dearly, but he truly tested my love. That’s why I put up my scripture cards all around my kitchen. I would say them all day, every day, over and over again. Gradually, I began to change and see a breakthrough in my behavior.

One night in particular sticks out to me as a time when I felt the love of God begin to bubble out of me. I had a PTA meeting at 6:30 p.m. Mac came home only an hour before that. That afternoon was the first cold snap we’d had, so I made chili. I even made a separate pot of chili for him that had hot sauce in it, because he likes hot chili but the rest of us don’t. I thought, He will be so happy.

I made him cornbread as well. He loved my cornbread and I knew he would be so blessed by it.

He came in, and sat down. As we were about to eat, he said, “Where are  the crackers?”

I said, “Honey, we don’t have any crackers tonight. I made you some cornbread.”

He replied, “I just don’t feel like cornbread tonight.”

You know what? I didn’t even have to get my index card out. Something started to happen inside me. The love of God started to well up on the inside of me—I kid you not—and I had this overwhelming desire to get in my car, go to the grocery store, and buy that man some crackers.

I said, “Honey, I want you to have some crackers. I’m going to the store.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to go to the store.” He said, “I know you’re going to be late for your meeting if you go to the store.”

“No, I’ve got to get you some crackers.”

As I’m walking out on my mission to get crackers, he said, “By the way, we’re out of coffee, too.”

I said, “Okay!”

Guess what was on special at the store? Crackers and coffee!

A Love That Gives
Do you see how you walk in love? You put the Word of God in your heart and in your mouth. You say it over and over, and believe it in your heart—it will become part of your actions.

Verses 6-8 of 1 Corinthians 13 says, “It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].”

The love I’m referring to is agape love—a divine love that gives and gives and gives. It is not contingent upon what somebody else does. It is a pattern of life based on giving to other people.

The natural mind says, “If I give to others, who will look after my interests?”

I’ll tell you who will—God. He’ll transform your relationships in such a way that you won’t be able to believe you didn’t do this before. When you continually put the Word of God inside you, you’ll watch the love of God literally bubble up inside of you and spill over into your daily actions.

Your relationships will be transformed.

You’ll be living in an atmosphere of love.

Source: Keys to Compatibility by Mac and Lynne Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Mac Hammond Ministries

On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”

Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!

What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.

A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”

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