But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-18
Dear Brothers and Sisters, beloved of the Lord,
Do you love everyone you meet? Your answer is probably an honest
"I can't. I don't even love my loved ones all the time." Has God shorted us on His provision and power to love? Think again....
“Here’s the scandalous truth of Christian teaching: Jesus and His followers make it abundantly clear that we do not have the luxury of loving some people but not others. Anybody can love selectively. glt
Love is not a feeling. Love is doing what is good and right for the other person, regardless of what they deserves or how they has treated you. Love is allowing the One who is Love to love through you. This is not just a faith walk but a walk of faith expressed in love. Last week I shared ‘the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.’ Galatians 5:6 We work and serve the Lord, knowing we are instructed to walk by faith. But how often is what we accomplish done without love, in the strength of our flesh?
As I fed on I Corinthians 13, I saw an in depth definition of love which I had previously not connected with faith, as mentioned in Galatians 5:6. I want to share my gleanings with you, dear brothers and sisters:
'If I have faith to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I am generous to a fault but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I surrender myself as a sacrifice, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
If I have all patience, and I am kind and fully accepting, humble in word and deed and always act in a way that honors God, and I refuse to seek selfish gain or hold a grudge and if you do not find me rejoicing in evil, but I am a proponent of Truth at any cost, and if I bear suffering with a sweet spirit and believe God’s word, and if I hold hope with a joyful endurance, but do not love, what good is it?'
When empowered by the Holy Spirit and I stand by faith, and when I persevere in tribulation, which brings about endurance and good character it results in hope, I will not be disappointed because God's love is poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit in me. God is Love and He lives in me!! This is the other side of faith, the complete picture.
I’ve come to believe that the ability to love people of all kinds, and to love them well, is the true definition of spiritual maturity. Tauler
Spiritual maturity is not about how marked my Bible is, nor about what others think of me or church attendance, or my sacrifices of service or money given. It is not even about great faith! Peter had faith and with great passion claimed Jesus was ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’ and later out of love, made a second declaration: ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” matt 26:35 But within a short time the cock crew and exposed the truth, an exclamation point to ‘I do not know the man!’ .
I am to be like Jesus. But I am like Peter. Getting up from my sweet quiet-time with the Lord, having worshiped and proclaimed how I love Him and the wonder of feeding on His word, I move into my day, only to find the love I enjoyed moments before, can vaporize like the morning dew and irritations enthrone themselves in my heart! Where did the love go? Where are the good intentions from a moment before? The obedience? The ‘dying to self’? Instead, a test came for which I thought I was prepared, but I failed without hesitation! How can I long to be transformed into His likeness, yet so easily abandon the throne to my flesh? I have found God faithfully tests me in what He is teaching me. Study love and He will test you in your walk of love.
If I value true transformation, I’ll value the opportunity to have my ability to love tested, tried, and refined. glt (ouch!)
Do you desire to grow in love and patience, but avoid people or situations that try your patience? God says in Romans 5, ‘tribulation brings about patience.”
…we can be full of joy here and now, even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; Romans 5:3 They are what God uses to create the likeness of Jesus in us.
God is love, so wherever He is, there is love! But for this love to reign in my life I must embrace the cross. Spending time on my knees in prayer and reading His word, does not negate the cross. Understanding and appropriating the facts of the cross proves to be one of the most difficult and trying of all phases for the growing believer. mjs As we move through our day we make myriads of choices, small and large. Dying to self is required to love others. Reckoning ourselves dead to sin, counting it true that you have died with Christ and risen with Him, is the liberating key!
We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. I John 4:19-20
Father, my heavenly Bridegroom, you who woo me to be near You and feed on You, and by Your Spirit, you make real the truth that I am crucified with Christ and risen with Him, I come, I bow, I worship. You are life and peace and truth and my contentment and the strength I need to make it through today. Thank You for pouring Your love into my heart for those I cannot love and on those who I do love. I am so needy and bankrupt of what really counts, and I look to You to be all in me and through me. Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, wash me in Your precious blood, cleanse me, and fill me and love through me that I might glorify You. I pray for my precious brothers and sisters around the world, give them ears to hear Truth and protect them and strengthen their faith as they trust in You. I pray in Your Name, Jesus, amen
much love,
az
