Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 KJV)
Love is a distinguishing character that sets a child of God apart from a religious person as shown in the following scripture:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV)
Wow! One would have thought that with a demonstration of all of the above, surely this person must be a child of God filled with so much love, but as you can clearly see it is possible for such a person to do all of the above and to still be devoid of Love.
The demonstration of love can be seen by everyone who beholds it but only God sees your heart.
Love must be expressed from a heart that has been transformed by God himself by being born of Him.
As a child of God, you must put to death the desire of the flesh to not live in God who is Love. When you live in God, you live in love and love with his love.
If you are a child of God you must love. You must love your fellow Christian and even your enemies. This is a commandment from our Lord. The bible says:
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:20-21 NIV)
Jesus said:
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; (Matthew 5:44 KJV)
As a child of God, the type of love you must express to everyone and in everything you do is shown below:
Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 AMP)
God's Love
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:10-11 NIV)
Prayer:
Dear Father, I am your child and have received your love. Please help me to love others in the same way you have loved me in Jesus Name I pray. Amen
Dear friend,
ReplyDeleteLoving your friends or people you like is very easy. However loving your enemies or people you don't know is a different story and not that easy. In fact to be honest, it is quite difficult. It is God's command that we, His children, must love others as He has loved us whether or not we feel they deserve it. We certainly do not deserve His love, but He loves us still.
This ministration shows you why it is so important to love God's way.
God bless
Aije