Saturday 13 June 2020

Do you Love

Do you Love?
The apostle John said,
"We love because he first loved us.  
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1John 4:19-21.
I heard a true story of a man who’s brother disagreed with him becoming a Christian so passionately that he entered the mans house while he was doing devotionals with his family. The brother trashed the house and beat up the man.
The man should have called the police and had his brother charged.
What impressed me however was the man that was beaten up told the police that he didn’t want to charge his brother. Then asked fellow Christians to pray for his brothers salvation.
The man could have easily let hate fester inside of him and justifiably had his brother arrested for assault.
That man exemplified what the apostle John is saying in the above scripture. He loved his brother so much he wished no harm to him.
A lot can be learned from how we react in circumstances especially bad ones. As believers in Christ we are called to Love in the way God loves, unconditionally.
When it comes to Godly love no greater example can be shown that the fact that Jesus layed down his life for us.
For me the best definition of love was written by the apostle Paul when he wrote,
“Love is patient, love is kind.
 It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, 
it is not easily angered, 
it keeps no record of wrongs. 
Love does not delight in evil 
but rejoices with the truth.  
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 
But the greatest of these is love.”  
                                                                            1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.
This is the kind of love God requires of all who love him. It is the kind of love even those who are not Christian can agree with.
So my question is, if you claim to be a Christian, a believer in Christ Jesus, do you show this kind of love to those around you.
Please think about it.

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