06/15/2021
Loving God, and Jesus, is easy because they love us so completely, and they want nothing but goodness, and the best for us; loving other believers can be a bit harder, because their love for us is human, and often flawed, but it is still relatively easy; however, when it comes to loving those who aren’t believers it can be quite a different thing, because these, who we are also told to love, may hate us, find our beliefs intolerable, and want every terrible thing to befall us. So today let’s ask ourselves… are we loving one another as we should, and as we are commanded to do?
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””
John 13:34-35 ESV
One thing many of us overlook when we attempt to love those around us isn’t based on whether they are lovable, or will allow us to love them by accepting our feelings for them, no, the thing we overlook is our own set of prejudices, subtle dislikes, ill feelings, and even hatreds, all of these spoil the love we are meant to have within us. We can’t change another person’s heart, only God can do that, but we can deal with our own heart as we pray for the Lord to help us change ourselves into new creatures who love without hesitation. We need to realize that we are a new creation that sees beyond the flesh of others to love the spirit within them.
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
I knew a man who was detestable to me in every way, and I cringed whenever I saw him. I wanted nothing to do with him, and felt that there was nothing in him that was of value, or lovable. Then one day as I was praying that the Lord move him far away from me, so that I wouldn’t feel the dislike I was dealing with spiritually, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the problem I had in loving this man was just that… a problem I had. The man might not have been friendly, trustworthy, or socially and spiritually acceptable to me, and he might have wanted to harm me, but there was still something in him that God found to love, so what was my problem?
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
Matthew 5:44 ESV
Have you ever known someone like this? Have you ever prayed that God would banish them, or worse, because of how they treated you or made you feel? Well we are not alone in this, and that is why it was important enough that God found it necessary to address our feelings in His Word…
“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
Matthew 5:39-42 ESV
I came to realize that I detested this man because of many things, but the greatest of them all was this… I detested him because he showed me that I was failing in my faith. I was unable, or unwilling, to love this man as God expected me to, and as Jesus had demonstrated to me in his life. This man brought out the worst in me, and I not only couldn’t love him, but I hated him for it.
“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
1 John 4:20-21 ESV
That day in prayer I learned far more than how to love someone who doesn’t love me, I learned a lesson about what I had harbored, and even fostered within myself. I learned that love was more than a word that I could say about someone, and claim had happen… it was about what was meant to have changed within me. I learned that when we refuse to love someone, we are reflecting that very person we find unloveable, and not the image of Jesus, and God, who love us so completely. So are we loving others as we should, or is it time for a change?
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
1 Corinthians 13:7-8 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving the world, and sending your Son Jesus to redeem us. Thank you for not only teaching us that we should love one another, but how we can accomplish this. Thank you for your Holy . Spirit that gives us remembrance of your word, and an understanding of it. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who has loved us while we were yet sinners. Praised be your name for teaching us to love those we never felt we could, and for showing us that even though they might crucify us, there is still something worth loving in them… something worthy of our forgiveness. Merciful are you Lord, and you are mighty as you save us from not only our enemies, but from ourselves as we demonstrate our love for them. Show us the reflection of Christ that you see in us Lord, and not the image of those we hate, yet are meant to love. Wash us clean in the blood of Jesus, and remove all sin, even hatred, from us. Fill us with your love, and witness the love we share with those around us. Raise us up Lord, and find us worthy in judgement of spending eternity with you, basking in the brilliant light of your love and glory forevermore.
Rich Forbes