Loving Even When ...

John 13:34-35 "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other..."

The spiritual fruit of LOVE found in Galatians is more than a feeling. It's a DECISION you must make. We are commanded to LOVE EVEN WHEN we don't feel like it.  Loving that very difficult person in your life CAN BE almost impossible. Yet, Paul writes in Philippians 1:9, "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more." Abound is defined as "to grow." God wants our love to GROW for EVERYONE in our lives.

It is very easy to love someone who loves you back. However, today's scripture instructs us to love OTHERS just as Jesus loves us. We are to love beyond our immediate circle of friends. At this time, I want you to think of the most difficult person you know. Then, I want you to think of how much you think Jesus loves you. I then want you to understand that you have been instructed by Jesus to love that person in the same way.

Know that you don't have to like someone's actions to love them. Jesus did not like many of the things people around Him were doing, but He still loved them. There is a saying, "hate the sin, not the sinner." We need to look beyond the act and at the person instead.

1 Peter 4:8 states, "Above all, love each other deeply, because LOVE covers over a multitude of sins." I challenge you today to think of individuals in your life that you have judged by their actions and ask God to help you love that person in spite of their shortcomings. Only then will you see true change.

Dear Lord, Please heal any hurts in my life that have tried to keep me from fully loving others. Thank You for Your unconditional love and forgiveness for ME.

I also thank You Jesus for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Reflection: Have you made every attempt to look beyond the actions of those individuals in your life who are difficult to love?