Does the church really understand what love is?

We are never always going to agree with each other, we are never always going to see eye to eye, we may from time to time fall out with each other. But if our love for each other is greater that our own opinion or need to be right, then we have a chance

Source: PInterest

John 13:34-35 ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’. Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant by this and is this love evident within the church for fellow believers? Also, is it possible for us as mere humans to love each other the way Christ loves us? Let’s start by considering Jesus’s love:

Firstly, we see in Romans 5:8 that Jesus’s love is unconditional; ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’. It is not necessary for us to become perfect or to reach a certain grade before He forgives us, we don’t have to do amazing or kind deeds. No! it was while we were still steeped in our sin that Christ died for us.

Secondly, in Romans 8:38-39 we see that Jesus’s love is powerful and inseparable; ‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’. Once we’ve received God’s love then nothing can separate us from it, even when we continue to get things wrong He still loves us. He may show this by disciplining us at times but as we turn to Him He embraces us with His love.

Source: Abide In Gods Word

Thirdly, in 2 Corinthians 5:21 we see that Jesus’s love is sacrificial; ‘God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God’. Isn’t this amazing, that even though we were lost in sin and deserving of death, we are the righteousness of God because Jesus became our sin and defeated it through His blood on the cross.

Fourthly, in John 13:12 we see Jesus’s love is to serve; ‘When He had finished washing their feet, He put on his clothes and returned to His place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them’.

Now let’s think about the church; Do we see this love within the body of Christ? For instance, what causes church splits, arguments, angry outbursts and egotistical desires such as a need to lord it over our brothers and sisters or to get the best job in the church (whatever we consider that may be) and then there is unforgiveness, selfishness and insincerity. It certainly isn’t the love of God. People who act this way live in the flesh not the Spirit. In fact, in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 Paul describes such people perfectly; ‘But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people’. Does this look familiar? Unfortunately, we do see these things within the church, but if we want to see change and see the Love that Jesus commanded us to have for one another in the body of Christ, then we need to do something about it. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we are told; ‘If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land’. So how about it, are you ready to do this?

Finally, is it possible for we mere humans to love each other the way Christ loves us? Well the simple answer to that is Yes, it is! We have the Holy Spirit within us, so we have the Love of Christ within us too. John 4:7-11 tells us; ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’, and 1 John 4:20-21 ‘Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And He has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister’.

We are never always going to agree with each other, we are never always going to see eye to eye, we may from time to time fall out with each other. But if our love for each other is greater that our own opinion or need to be right, then we have a chance. I think we need to ponder on what Jesus said to His disciples in John 13:12 and ask ourselves the same question. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ He then went on to say in John 13:13-17 ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them’. I believe this has nothing to do with washing each other’s feet but has everything to do with a servant heart and a heart that loves as Jesus loves. Brothers and sisters in Christ; ‘Do we really understand what He’s done for us’?

May God bless you and fill your heart with His unconditional, inseparable, sacrificial, servant love.

Author: Kevin Hunt 

May God bless and enrich your life
     
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