As we continue to look
at this idea of picking up our cross and dying to Christ, I think of what Peter
told his readers. “Godliness
leads to love for other Christians,
and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.”[1] Peter tells us that as we grow we well come
to have genuine love for all people. This
seems to go against the flow of society, what about those who are just unlovable. We are to love them too, I grew up in the
church and I have always heard people say, “I may have to love them but I don’t
have to like them.” I don’t think that
is what God means for us I believe He desires for us to love everyone as He
loves them. When Christ says, “if you want to be my follower
you must love me more than
your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, more
than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And you cannot be my disciple if you do
not carry your own cross and follow me.[2] Let us just think about this for a brief second
if we are to love God more than anyone else then doesn’t it make sense that we
are going to love everyone then. Christ also said, “Love your enemies! Do good
to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. Then
your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as
children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who
are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate”[3]
God is love, and if we are going to Love Him more than anyone then shouldn’t His
love pour in us and out of us?
But why should we love everyone? After all there are some pretty mean and
hatful people shouldn’t we hate them or at least strongly dislike them? Paul told Titus not to speak evil of others
and stay away from quarrelling. He even
told him, “God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not
because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our
sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit
upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty
because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal
life. These things I have told you are all true. I want you to insist on them
so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the
time. These things are good and beneficial for everyone.”[4] Have you every stopped to think that a God
who did not need to show you love, didn’t even need to stop and acknowledge your
existent sent His son to die on a cross to die for you.
We must pick up our crosses and begin
to die to Christ to allow the hate in our lives to die. If we want the world to know Christ we must
show them Christ through the Love He has shown us. “God showed how much he loved us by sending
his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our
sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each
other. No one has ever seen God. But if we
love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression
through us.”[5]
[1]Holy
Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (2 Pe 1:7). Tyndale House: Wheaton,
Ill.
[2]Holy
Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Lk 14:26-27). Tyndale House: Wheaton,
Ill.
[3]Holy
Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Lk 6:26-36). Tyndale House: Wheaton,
Ill.
[4]Holy
Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Tit 3:3-8). Tyndale House: Wheaton,
Ill.
