Granny has been telling me how I need to love people. I don't really like people. People are sinful, and icky, and mean, and selfish (my self included.) And I don't like having to face sins. I rarely know how to respond to them. So, I just don't like people.
1st John talks about loving those that also follow God. Okay, great, lets leave it there. That means I don't have to love so-n-so, or so-n-so, or him either. But day after day God pulls a section verses to mind and says "That's not where I left it. Aren't you glad I didn't leave it there?"
Matthew 5:43-45
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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.
Some take it farther even.
Luke 6:34-36And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Luke 6:27-30
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
It is not that you will feel love toward, and that's why you will pray for them, or do good to them, or let them take whatever they please... But it is that you do these things, and you will love them.
Love is an act of the will. It is setting yourself below others.
God's love is far beyond what we can even truly comprehend. He set for as an example to follow in word and in deed. He had(has) all the power in the universe, and yet he let people hurt Him. In much of His life, you see that when people are out to kill Him, He simply fades into the crowd and vanishes away, until the time came to give us a chance at freedom from sin. Then, on that day, He allowed people to tear down His body.
We were His enemy. And He did it for us-for me-anyway.
Love is an action word, not an emotion. We must all strive towards the practice of loving others as Christ loved us. This is my favorite of your blog posts. It shows your growth in the Lord and your desire to continue to grow as well as your hesitancy to do the very things we are all commanded to do. It is a very real depiction of the daily struggle every Christian faces between the spirit and the flesh. <3
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