Christian Love

Hi ladies!

I was reading Galatians today and came across the fruits of the spirit. I started thinking about how we demonstrate those fruits in our lives. Then I decided to look at each one more closely in my weekly blog. The first one is love. It’s not surprising that love would be the first fruit of the spirit mentioned, after all Jesus did say it was the greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37-38 says, “And he said to them, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Matthew 22:39-40 goes on to say, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Basically, if we just follow the command to love, we won’t break any other commandment in the bible. Every sin on the list involves not loving God and not loving one another. Jason has done a pretty good job in the time we’ve been here to push the concept of loving one another. As a church, it says a lot about who we are in the way we treat one another but also in the way we treat others in the community.

When I was first saved the idea of loving God was a new and foreign concept. I feared and obeyed Him. I asked Him for things. But actually loving God was difficult. As a person who grew up without a lot of physical affection, my idea of love was liking the other person, not fighting, not belittling them. The idea of loving someone I couldn’t see or hear or touch was out of my realm of understanding. I’d hear other Christians talk about how much they loved Jesus and when asked if I loved Jesus, I would tell them yes but in my heart and mind the answer was no because how do I love someone I can’t see or know like I know my friends?

It took a lot of time in my bible to understand how we love God. I think we can all understand the gratitude we have for our salvation and feel grieved about our sin when we know that every sin we commit is just one more weight on Jesus on the cross. So part of that love for me came from the knowledge of what Jesus went through on my account. I wasn’t saved as a child so I know exactly what I’m forgiven for. And a good friend and pastor once told me that even if I was the only person throughout the history of the world who would ever accept Jesus, He would have come and done it all just for me. It was the first time I understood the love of Jesus in a personal way.

Now how do we show love for God? The bible answers that question too. John 14:15 says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” These are the words of Jesus. He told us exactly how to love Him, just obey Him. It’s pretty simple really, except for that pesky human nature that tends to be selfish and wanting to do what it wants to do.

If our only focus was to love God, we could all probably do a little better to keep His commands. However, He threw in the addendum that we also need to love other people. Well, I love my spouse and my kids. I love my family. I love my friends, even the ones who have yet to accept Jesus. I love my church family. That’s a lot of people, but Jesus said to love my neighbor. Now it gets tricky because some of my neighbors have acted badly. What about the neighbor that shot and killed my dog? What about the neighbor that throws trash in the ditch in front of my house? These people are unlovable and God can’t possibly expect me to love them! Not really, Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies, so yes, He wants us to forgive those that have wronged us as well and love them. Matthew 5:44 says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It’s easy to love nice people but it’s a challenge to love your enemies.

So, as we go through our day and interact with others, let’s show them the love of Jesus. If they don’t show it back, then pray for them, maybe they have burdens we don’t know about. And if you haven’t visited our little church on the hill, come join us…you will definitely feel the love of Jesus! And it’s worth the drive!

Lori Hug