Let God Show You How To Love
1 John 4:20-21 NLT
20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
This sections starts by saying in verse 8, But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
If we profess to love God and we do not love others John puts it as simply as he can, “that person is a liar.” We cannot cherry pick who we love and who we do not. To say you hate someone means you don’t love God. Period.
Jesus tells us that the path is wide but the gate is narrow. In other words, there are a lot of people out there that hate and when I say hate I mean:
To feel an intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury. [www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate]
Just pick up your local paper, turn on the news or go online and you’ll see more examples of hate than you care to know about. That then feeds into the whole vicious circle of hate because the people reading about the hate then hate those who are doing the hating. That is a lot of hate!
Jesus taught that we are to love everyone, especially our enemies. I know what you are thinking, that is hard to do. The thing is, we are commanded by God to do it. It is not an option. Quit hating!
It takes time to quit hating. We hear all the time that we need to learn to get along with one another but how often does it happen? How quick are we to stereotype a person or people group. We are quick to judge and slow to love.
About a year ago as I was leaving church to have lunch with the family a man approached me in the parking lot. Social norms would have said don’t talk to him, he’s homeless. God said listen to my child’s story and do what you can to help him. So I listened without judging.
He needed to get to someplace that had Western Union so I drove him to the 6th Street Hy-Vee Drug Store and then waited for him. There was a problem and he needed to make a phone call so without a thought I let him borrow my cellphone which he went inside with. Yeah, I know, he could have taken off with it. That thought never entered my mind. While I was waiting a lady in the care next to me was trying to fill out a form of some kind and her pen quit working. Being the Boy Scout that I am (our motto: Be Prepared), I let her have an extra that I had. Finally the man came out and was happy. He had gotten the money order so he and his wife could buy bus tickets to get where they were going. After that I headed to lunch, never giving it another thought until I read 1 John 4 again.
Love and trust God and He will make the way clear.
Heavenly Father I thank you for the spirit of love that you give to us. I thank you for the joy that loving others brings. It has changed me as it has so many others. Unfortunately because of Satan being in the world and people falling for his lies there will always be hate. Help us to do what we can by showing and sharing Your love. Amen!
