Do You Truly Love Each Other?
Author: Pat Aman
Luke 6:32 If you love only the people who love you, what praise should you get? Even sinners love the people who love them.
Love, ah… it’s easy for us to love each other. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s easy to love members of your family, of your church, and it’s easy to love friends. But how about the hard-to-love?
What about the person that has wronged you? The person who has talked bad about you, spread gossip, rumors? The person that did you wrong in a business deal, at school or at a social function? How about that person you truly feel you cannot love anymore, because of the hatred they have shown to you?
Maybe you have had judgmental people in your life that seem to sit high up on their self built pedestal and judges everyone. They remember everyone’s short coming from 100 year ago. But, never look at their own sinful life.
We all have them, don’t we? Or am I the only one?
Jesus says, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Matthew 5:44-48
Notice how the love of Christ turns the “world’s” value system upside-down. The world says, “hate your enemies;” Jesus says love your enemies. But how do we do it?
I remember one time someone ask my daddy, “hey do you like me?” His answer was, “as a human man I do not like your ways, but as a child of God, and my brother in Christ, I love you.” WOW!
Now as the sentence above states, Jesus says love your enemies. But how do we do it?
Ready for the answer? Hang on to your hats!
Pray!
Yes, prayer. Simple answer yes, but a powerful solution. Pray for that person who has wronged you. Now don’t go and pray like I used to pray, “Lord get back at that person. Lord, make them pay for what they did to me, or Lord, give me a chance to blow him out!”
You really don’t think God wants us to pray to change God, do you? Prayer doesn’t change God; it changes us. In my opinion, God uses prayer for two reasons. One — to allow us to participate in His plan and two — to change us. Pray fervently and earnestly for someone that is hard for you to love, and God will change your heart toward that person. God will show you what He Himself sees in that person.
How will the world know us Christ-Followers? They will know us by our love that flows from our love of Jesus Christ.
John 13:34-35 I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.
Well… tough stuff, but we need to do it, folks — and we can do it — armed with His love.
Love Pastor Pat
Pastor Pat Aman/©1996/2019 CWPM and Christian Faith Publishers…
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