You Want Me To Love Who?
You want me to love who?
Monday, I wrote about starting the day singing (or speaking) of the love and strength of the Lord. Go ahead and do that for a minute.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” – Matthew 5:43-45
Who do you love?
Who do you treat well?
It’s easy to love someone who loves you back. I love my family. That’s not hard because, on a regular basis, they tell me and show me that they love me. We love our friends and the people who help us out. As Jesus points out a few verses later, pretty much everyone does that, but Christians are called to something more.
“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” – Matthew 5:46-47
It’s much harder to love someone who mistreats you or seems ungrateful. Yet, this is what we are told to do. It can be difficult, however, when we think of the fact that we are loving them because God loves them and we are loving them because God loves us and works His love in us, it can make it easier.
This is also what Jesus did.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” – Romans 5:8-10
While we were still sinners and enemies of God, Jesus died for us.
How wonderful that He did that?!!
If He had waited for us to stop sinning, we would have no hope.
Who might you need to start showing love to?
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for loving me even when I rebelled against You. Help me to love others as You have loved me. Help me to love my enemies as well as my friends.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
