As God Loves

 

 John 13:34–35

“The Lord Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another” 

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

 

It is required of us by the Lord Jesus that we live well with others and that we love one another. But because we are human and are different, it becomes inevitable that prejudices and misunderstandings will arise in our day today living with our family and friends, so much so that arguments and conflict can occur amongst us. It therefore becomes difficult to follow the Lord’s commandment that we get along well with others, and eventually end up harming and hurting one another. Worse, it becomes hard to forgive one another hence the wounded world. Not only does conflict lead to physical and mental health issues, it also weighs down the spirit. Today the world is full of emotional storms of distress with feelings of anxiety, depression, insecurity and fear majorly because of lack of love and because of unforgiveness. With all these emotional issues, it is not easy for us to serve the Lord as required.

I have heard a lot of people say I have forgiven him/her though they hurt me, but they are history to me. There is still that bitterness that leads to us not wanting to see them again and even more, we can’t truly say we love them.  Have you ever sinned before? Ofcourse the answer is yes. Have you ever been forgiven? Ofcourse!!!!  Why then is difficult for us to forgive others?

Forgiveness is intentional. We can’t pray to God to help us forgive and expect forgiveness to flow like living waters when we are not willing to act out of love. We are required to make a decision to let go of bitterness, resentment and anger. 

As long as we are on earth, we must be assured that we will have misunderstandings with our friends, best friends, church mates, work mates, family.  We will be betrayed by those closest to us including those we love the most. Judas’ greed led him to betray Jesus. He was able to lead the Chief priests, the officers of the temple guard and the elders to arrest Jesus because he was no stranger in His life. He knew exactly where Jesus would be.  The reason we get hurt badly most of the times, when we are betrayed is because the people who betray us are close. We don’t expect them to do us harm. But shouldn’t this be expected? Was Judas a stranger to Jesus?  Peter denied Jesus 3 times because Jesus was in trouble. He did this despite telling Jesus that he was ready to go with him to prison and to death.

Was Peter a stranger? Should we therefore not expect family and friends to   abandon us when we are in trouble or going through some challenges?

Most of the times the mistake we make as Christians is to think that just because we are among the community of believers then we are automatically going to live at peace with one another, effortlessly so! We believe that just because we are surrounded by friends who are Christians or people we believe to be loyal/ best friends  then we are going to not offend one another. In this world, we will face rejection and betrayal from family and friends but as much as it depends on us, let us live peaceably with all people. (Romans 12:18)

We are the sons and daughters of the most high God. The one who makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). Let us therefore spread the same love amongst ourselves. Let us love all people regardless. People will know the God we carry through our acts of love. The reason why Jesus said the greatest commandment is love is because love is the nature of God, love is God (1 John 4:8) thats why He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and love covers all ills. True love is sacrificial and unconditional. God exemplified it through Jesus.

Finally Brethren, Jesus says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). The bible does not say You shall love  your neighbor if they love you or you shall love your neighbor if they have money or that you shall love your neighbor if they don’t hurt you. This love is unconditional. It is not dependent on how people treat us or on one’s status or position in society. Why do we love then? We love because God loves us. We love because God is love. We love because love is of God. (1 John 4:7-8).

 

Colossians 3: 14-15. Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which you were called in one body and be thankful.

 

Have a Blessed Life!