Loving Others

Loving Others

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."
1st Peter 1:22

Throughout the Bible, we are taught to love everyone unconditionally, just as God loved us. Today, I want you to think about how you would measure up to what God commands you to do. If you are like most people, it would be easy to love people who were kind to you, respected you and did things that were pleasing to you. However, how do you react to the people who are not kind, who show no respect to you, and do things that anger and annoy you? Do you have the same love for these people as you have for the people who were kind? Jesus clearly teaches us to love, even those around us who seem unlovable. Can you imagine Jesus, as He was being beaten, spit upon and then crucified, loving these people who were brutalizing Him, as much as the others who followed and worshipped Him? Jesus lived out what He taught, as He loved them enough to die for them and their sins. While it's hard to respond to unkindness with love, such godly behavior can lead to great blessings. God will notice when you love others that may sin and not be kind to you, but I believe that others around you will notice also. While unconditional godly love is so uncommon in our world, when it is shown and demonstrated by your actions, people around you will notice. Treating others as we want to be treated is important to us. But being able to love others who do not treat us well, is what really sets us apart, as this is the kind of love that Jesus showed us that day on the cross.