Love OneAnother
Dear Friends,
God loves us with such incredible love as He has demonstrated through the sending of His Son for our redemption. Now He desires that we would love one another. Jesus in John 15:12-13 declares, “My commandment is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Many would rather give their love to a dog, a cat, a bird, or even a pet rat or snake before they dare to try to love people. These individuals do this because they often have been hurt by some person in the past.As a result they have a difficult time loving people. Even though it may be difficult, we are told in Galatians 6:2 to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the love of Christ.”
I don't know about you but I have a hard time when it comes to loving certain people. They are unappreciative, resentful and irritating. The trouble is as I describe the characteristics of these other people; I am often describing characteristics in my own life.All this can be very frustrating and that's why preaching or hearing a teaching on loving one another may be something I would rather ignore. The fact is if I claim to be a Christian it is unavoidable. Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34).
Loving one another is not always easy. People are by nature unlovable and frequently irritating. When it comes to loving, irritating and obnoxious people it is often easier to just drive such people out of our lives and then try to move on through life without them. The problem is such action emotionally freezes us and prevents us from fully loving others who have similar attitudes or mannerisms in the future. That is why Jesus kept talking about the need to love one another. In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these'".
Jesus, parable about the prodigal son, found in Luke 15:11-31, gives a vivid example of loving one another as yourself. The love of the Father toward his wayward son can be seen by spelling out the word PEOPLE. The patience the father showed toward his son by not disinheriting him when the son asks for his inheritance is the first word in the acronym PEOPLE.
In I Corinthians 13:4 Paul tells us in very practical ways how to love one another In verse 4 he says that love is Patient. My initial response is, "that is all well and good but when I try to be patient with unlovable people I usually fail." The fact is nobody likes failing. That is why it is easier to give up and turn inward. The problem is I really want to be a Christian and that involves loving people.
The key to loving one another, involves being constantly plugged into God's love. Jesus expressed that in Mark 12:30 when He told us that the first and greatest commandment involves loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Only then can we perform the second commandment, which is to love our neighbor as our self. Love that is patient is possible only when we exercise patience for people. By being plugged into God's love constantly we can love one another because it is His love that flows through us.
After his son leaves the father in the parable of the prodigal son shows us the necessity of having endurance. The word endurance starts with the letter E which is also the second letter in the word PEOPLE. The father endured and didn’t give up on his son while he spent his inheritance as he engaged in his sinful lifestyle. The letter E reminds us of the endurance necessary when it comes to loving one another. Verse 7 of 1 Corinthians 13:7 tells us that love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things."
Endurance does not mean that we become enablers who keep it all inside until we explode. It involves speaking the truth in love because we do care about the other person and what their hostile unloving actions are doing to them. It doesn't take much endurance before we recognize how empty our own love tank is. Therefore we are once again reminded that when it comes to loving one another we need to daily be letting God's love flow into us and through us. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
The O in the word PEOPLE stands for obedience. The father, instead of giving in to his emotions of feeling rejected by his son’s leaving, engages in obedience to the higher law of love. The first letter in this word obedience is the O we find when spelling out the word PEOPLE.
Now we must, even when we don’t feel like it, engage in obedience to our Lord when He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus’ commandments include loving (John 13:34) and forgiving one another (Matthew 18:21- 22).
This brings us to the second Pin the word PEOPLE, which stands for prayer As we pray specifically for those God has brought into our lives to love we will see Him open up the opportunities for us to express such love. Whether it is a teenage son or daughter, a husband or wife, or a lonely homeless person, we must pray for God's direction how we can express the love of God to that person.
Prayer is important when it comes to loving people no matter who they might be. When we pray, we are not only asking God to work in the other person but in ourselves as well. We are told in Matthew 7 not to judge but to ask, seek and knock when it comes to loving one another. For example, is there someone on the job, or a neighbor who is really making life difficult for you? The feelings you have for that person often may not be feelings of love. You want them to get what you think is coming to them, but in Matthew 7: 1, 2 it says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matt. 7:1, 2).
Loving one another involves praying. Jesus tells us that judging and giving in to unloving actions doesn’t work. We need to ask God for help, seek Him for a solution, and believe Him to knock on the doors of the hard hearts of unlovable people until those hearts are opened. This all involves prayer. "Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8).
The father asks, seeks and knocks resulting in His youngest son returning home. When we pray, we must believe God for the answer to our prayers. This answer may be a change in the behavior of the person we are praying for or it may result in God showing us the behavior we need to let Him change in us before He can work on the other person.As we pray we must remember what James says in James 1:5-8 concerning the wisdom on how to love people. "If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That man (this also includes women) should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
If we really are serious about loving one another then we need to take a closer look at the L in the word PEOPLE. The L stands for the love that flows from God. This love has a power beyond all description "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work" (Ps. 62:11-12).
God's love is all powerful and it has no limits. It is consistent when the love of other people fails.
The love of the father who waited patiently for his son and then ran to meet him when he returned (Luke 15:20) shows the love God has for us as explained in Romans 8:31-39. "What then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us; who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 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’” .
The love God gives us is a love that has no limits. This love not only flows to family, friends, and co-workers but to the poor, the fatherless, the hungry and the homeless. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in. I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick, and you looked after Me. I was in prison, and you came to visit Me" (Matt 25:34-36).
This is the promise of Jesus to all who will let His love flow through them. It is a promise of love that allows us to love and directly help the hungry, the hurting, the homeless, the sick, and the imprisoned. In spite of this promise many who claim to be saved are like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:28-30). These individuals say they are believing Jesus to save them but like the older brother instead of celebrating and welcoming their homeless brothers and sisters home side with those who say not in my back yard. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord’, did we not prophecy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
The second E in the word PEOPLE stands for the Eternal life promised by Jesus Christ to those who let His eternal love flow through them. This love can only flow in the lives of those who allow Jesus Christ to cleanse them of their sins. "If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"(l John 1:9).
When you turn from a life of sinfulness, self-centeredness, and loveless-ness to the source of life and love, Jesus Christ, you are born again. You are then referred to as, "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
It is impossible for anyone who has been born again into God's love through Jesus Christ, to not let that love flow through them until good deeds result. Loving people evidenced by good works is what happens to those who have received the love of God. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and that not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:8-10).
As we strive to love one another it will be evident by our good works. In order to let our light of love shine before others, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven, we must daily spell out the word PEOPLE through our actions. 1 Peter 4:10 declares, “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. ”
Remember the first P in the word PEOPLE is for the Patience that is often required when we are loving one another. The E is for the Endurance necessary which keeps us loving even when such love is not returned. We must look upon those in our lives who seem the most difficult to love as God's gifts to teach us what it means to exercise unconditional love. The O in the word people is to remind us to be Obedient to Jesus' command for us to love one another.
The second P in the word PEOPLE is for Prayer. This involves praying for the ability to love the difficult people God has brought into our lives. We must ask God to teach us to how to show love to difficult people.
As we spell out the word PEOPLE we must let the letter L remind us of God's unconditional Love. It is this love which makes it possible for us to love all people. This includes the hurting, hungry, and homeless.
The E in the word PEOPLE is a reminder of the gift of Eternal Life awaiting everyone who turns from their loveless lives to Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God's great love. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosever believeth in Him shall not perish but should have everlasting life" (John3:16).
Because of God’s love at work in us, we can love people.As we love one another may we “live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly,” (Romans 12:16). Loving one another means showing “hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9).
Now "this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (and sisters). If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother (or sister) in need but has no pity on him (or her), how can the love of God be in them? Dear friends, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:16-18).
Loving one another involves encouraging “one another and building one another up” (1 Thess. 5:10). “See that no one repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1 Thess. 5:15).
Yours in Christ, Larry Rice