“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God loves in us and his love is made complete in us.”
Our society has made “love” to be such a soft word. We love a new dress or a new car. We love chocolate or a fresh, hot doughnut. But we do not understand how to love each other the way God wants us to. We do not understand how to love all those around us, no matter what role they play in our lives. How can we feel good about all people—even those who have hurt us? Do you realize that we are commanded to love in the Bible? How can we obey this command that God has given us?
Love is not just an emotional reaction to a person or object in our lives, but it is an act of the will. That is the only way that it would be possible to love consistently. We are commanded to love God (Matthew 22:37), our neighbors (Mathew 22:39), and even our enemies (Mathew 5:43-47). This kind of love cannot be a feel-good kind of love… because some of these people do not make us feel so good. But God loves all people, and we are supposed to, too. So, how do we drum up love for those that are so different from us that we can’t understand them? How do we force ourselves to love those who have hurt or betrayed us? Do we just decide to love them and then try to force an action that would communicate it? It seems that if God’s love is real and genuine for everyone, so should ours be. But we are not as nice as God. We have differences, prejudice, even hatred toward other people. How can we obey Him and love them?
The secret to being able to love others that we do not naturally have a common bond with is to do it by faith. You may be wondering just what that means. Well, it is the only way that we can obey God when he tells us to love our enemies. God has an endless supply of love for us to draw from. And when we accepted Christ into our lives, we gained access to all that God has. So, as is true about everything else in the Christian life, loving all people is based on faith. We are given a command to love. John 15:12 says,“This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” That statement is a pretty high standard. To love others as Christ did is impossible in our flesh. But he has also given us a promise. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
So, if we are commanded to love, and we do not have enough love in ourselves to give, we simply ask God to give us the love for those around us that are hard to love. By faith we claim that he has answered our prayer according to his promise, and we then allow the Holy Spirit to love those people through us. It sounds simple, and it really is. God would not ask us to do something that he is unwilling to give us the ability to do. He will give us the love when we ask him and trust him to do it.
When we employ this faith and ask God to love all people through us, we may not be hosting a party at our house with all our enemies invited. But we will have God’s attitude toward them in our hearts. We will want to see them come to know God, we will want them to be kept from harm, and we will no longer harbor animosity towards them. And God will be honored as we do this, since it is by his power that it is all accomplished. Try it. You may be surprised!
Application Questions
- Are you being obedient to God by loving all those around you?
- Are you dependent on your own ability to love?
- Will you take God at his word and allow him to love through you?
Prayer
God, I know that in my own flesh and strength I am unable to love all the people in my life. I do not love my family and friends the way you want me to. And I am not loving to my enemies at all. Please help me to love these people by faith. Help me to depend on your Spirit to give me the love I need. By faith I claim your promise to answer my prayers if I pray according to you will. Help me to demonstrate your unconditional love to everyone around me, and may my actions bring glory to you. Amen.