How’s Your Love Life These Days?

How’s Your Love Life These Days?

Love covers so many things in the English language.    I  l-o-v-e  pizza!    I love your new hair style!    I love my country.    I love our troops.    I love the way my teacher explains things.    I love my spouse.    I love our children and grandchildren.    I love my Lord and Savior…….

The list could go on and on about the things we “love” in this world.    Each concept of loving is different — as different as pizza and God.    When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of real love,  how much have we loved those around us these days?

Here we need to open our hearts and minds to God Almighty.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-48,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’    But I say to you,  love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you  in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;  for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good  and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.    For if you love those who love you,  what reward have you?    Do not even the tax gatherers do the same?    And if you greet your brothers only,  what do you do more than others?    Do not even the Gentiles do the same?    Therefore you are to be perfect,  as your heavenly father is perfect.”

Do we really want to be the children of God?    Are we ready to love — big time?

Do we care enough about absolutely everyone around us to love them the way Jesus does?

Jesus’ love presents the gospel  (the good news of God’s salvation)  to “enemies” at every opportunity — like He did to the Samaritan woman at the well  (John 4:4-43),  or a puzzled Pharisee named Nicodemus  (John 3:1-21),  or even to the sinful woman,  who washed His feet with her tears  (Luke 7:36-50).

Jesus’ love for this sinful woman must have been most wondrously overwhelming for her to buy an alabaster vial of perfume to anoint His feet and to wet His feet with her tears,  wipe His feet with her hair,  and then to kiss His feet.

Can we match her love?

Do we love everyone around us enough to obey Jesus’ command to love even our enemies  (Matthew 5:43-48)?

Do we love everyone around us enough to pray for our enemies?    Do we love our enemies enough to do something good for them?    Do we love them the way God loves them?

“We” were once arch enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ.    Do we honestly want to remain that way?    Or do we want to become the children of God?

Romans 5:10 says,  “For IF while we were enemies,  we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,  much more,  having been reconciled,  we shall be saved by His life.”

It’s like, “Wow!    We were enemies!    Each and every one of our sins makes us enemies of our Lord.”

Do we still want to be enemies of God after seeing His love for us on the cross?    Can we really change our hateful,  spiteful life?    Is there any chance that we could become honest-to-goodness children of God — instead of enemies?

Living in Christ is all about loving.    Living “in” Christ is all about knowing for sure that we are loved by God Almighty.

God loved us while we were still His enemies…    Now that we see that love on the cross for us,  just WHAT will we do?    Are we going to start loving…  or continue hating?

How do we think God feels about each person in our lives — our brothers,  sisters,  parents,  in-laws,  work contacts,  people in church,  neighbors,  or casual acquaintances?

A long time ago I came across this old Irish ditty:

To live above with the saints we love,  ah, that is the purest glory;

To live below with the saints we know,  ah,  that is another story.

It’s all about love.   

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,  that whoever believes in Him should not perish,  but have eternal life.”    John 3:16

Believing is loving as we are loved by our Savior.

Love,   Margaret