Love of Another Kind

We delight in it, as the Father did, and go the extra mile even though the other person didn't earn it."

JESUS CAME TO CLEAR UP THE CHAOS created by the minds of men. The Old Covenant Law had become cluttered with rules God had never intended. Jesus came to paint a clear picture of the Father, to reveal God as the source of life and love. He came also to set a perfect example for men to imitate. Not simply one of many examples but the only example. He came to die on the cross as the Lamb of God, and in dying to condemn sin and the devil and cleanse men’s hearts. He came to rise from the dead and bring to all who would believe, the fullness of eternal life.

We read the Word of God to renew our minds, to change our thought patterns and the way we react to circumstances, challenges, troubles. To people. We study Jesus’ words to learn what He wanted us to place in our heart. How He spoke, how He heard the Holy Spirit and worked through the Holy Spirit the works of the Father, are shown to us in the gospels so that we can see as He saw. We are not merely observers but seek to do as He did. Where He had compassion, let His compassion be ours. Where He refused to compromise, let us also stand fast in the truth.

We find additional lessons in the epistles. The apostle Paul as well as Peter and John, James and others take what Jesus said and re-present it to us, and the Holy Spirit who lives inside us because of our salvation teaches us, giving us wisdom and understanding, for our behavior as children of God. There is one theme which spans God’s Word, which speaks from Jesus’ words and actions, which permeates what His disciples taught as well. All of revelation of God which comes through Christ in us begins and ends with love. God’s love to us, our love to one another, our love to even those we might otherwise despise.

I’ve spoken of God’s love many times because of an experience a number of years ago. He flooded my room with His love in a manner which I cannot fully describe and will never forget. It was as wide as it was deep and as great in extent. It had no beginning and no end. I thought of people who were difficult to love and marveled that God’s love for them was so big, so easy. They weren’t hard to love at all when seen through God’s eyes. When seen as Jesus saw them, I couldn’t help but love. Our human mindset about people, fueled by fleshly emotions and earthly understanding keeps us from showing the fullness of God’s love. This was what Jesus came to earth to do, to show us how much we were loved and give us the capacity to do the same.

Do we look at that one who gets in our face with their ungodly behavior or incorrect beliefs and see them as whole and healthy, as in love with Jesus? Or are we still casting stones? The Pharisees tossed a woman taken in the act of adultery at Jesus’ feet, wanting Him to condemn her. He forgave her instead and made of them an example of how not to be. This is a lesson to us. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Love will cover a multitude of sins (MKJV).” Are we using God’s love to conceal and protect others are to put their mistakes on display? Are we forgiving the thief on the cross and offering him paradise or enjoying his death?

An author is told to never reply to negative reviews. Never. Whatever people may say about your book, leave it alone and don’t speak to the reviewer at all. A number of years ago, the Spirit of God laid it on my heart to take this even further. I stopped leaving a review on a book if all I had to say was anything negative. The words you sow, you will reap. The body of Christ, the church, regardless of denomination and doctrinal differences, regardless of culture or skin color, is to encourage and build each other up. That name of someone who we disagree with should never leave our lips except in blessing and prayer. Like the old adage, your mother should have taught you, “If you can’t say anything nice, say nothing at all.”

“God has designed the body, creating a perfect organism where all the various parts are united in serving each other, where each part is honored to fulfill its appointed purpose for the good of all.” (1 Corinthians 12:24 Remedy)

This is not just my personal feelings. The apostle Paul spoke of this to the church at Corinth. He compared the church to a physical body whose members must work together in order to function fully in best of health. The feet need the eyes in order to walk in the correct direction. The hands need the shoulders in order to reach for what must be lifted. And all of the body needs the heart and the lungs and unsightly internal organs in order to live. The whole of the body being directed by the Head. All the body’s parts are needed for the body to do what God created it to do, and our mindset on love for one another must be the same or we fall far short of what our loving God intended. Jesus died on the cross because the Father loved men so much that He would forgive them completely and never think of their sins again. He no longer wanted to conceal them with the blood of bulls and goats but to erase them forever.

Here is the determination given to us. We must move from revenge for real or perceived wrongs, from hatred and bitterness, from derision and ridicule to that same desire for forgiveness. We delight in it, as the Father did, and go the extra mile even though the other person didn’t earn it. Even though they might hurt us again. This is not to say we are to be foolish, but when we have God’s heart on this, and it is our nature to forgive as much as He did, then the enemy loses his grip on us. The desire of God to never hurt another person should be our greatest aim, and here’s the truth about it – God has made us able.

“Dear brothers and sisters, if it is discovered that someone among you is engaged in some self-destructive activity, those of you who are mature and understand how indulging the selfish nature destroys God’s image within and how God longs to heal and restore us should gently lead them back to the path of health while doing all in your power to protect their reputation. And remember to be humble, lest you open yourself up to temptation. Do what is in the best interest of each other, including sharing each other’s burdens: this is the true meaning of the law of love that emanates from the character of God.” (Galatians 6:1-2 Remedy)

I do not look at people the same as I once did. I do not speak about them as I used to do. I’m inspired by ministers such as Bill Johnson, who prays blessings on the lives and families of those who have targeted him. I want to never look at anyone and discard them as worthless. Though there are some who are filled with the enemy’s evil, and it is appalling what they would choose to do, I must ask, What if they met Jesus? What if God changed their heart and made of them an example of His goodness? What if one was a murderer who deliberately killed Christians, but Jesus spoke, and he now preaches grace? There are so many examples of lives who were changed when they recognized the Savior.

And this is His heart to us. The One who laid His life down on the altar wants us to do the same as we follow Him and for us to have no regrets over it. No selfish intentions. But to be so changed by the love of God in us that we do not any longer think that way. That there’s not one trace left of the old man, for he has died, and now, from us comes God’s eternal life. Eternal in size and quality and quantity, not just in the amount of time. Eternal life in the nature of God who gives it to us that His character would reign in us, so that we would not only love that one and pray for them but go so far as to protect their reputation. Not to cover up sin nor to participate in it, but that what they are forgiven from is not placed on display by us as our loving God does not do the same to us.

Stop focusing on judgment and prefer mercy. Mercy IS God’s chosen judgment. Stop looking for retaliation and give your faults and struggles to God and let the Holy Spirit do the conviction, let God protect you, let Him prosper you despite what people have done. Lay down your cross and pick up His, and having lost your life, as you would do it on our own, you will find it one thousand times over in Him instead.

“Love always protects, always heals, always restores, builds up, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:7, Remedy)

Image by HAMED ASAD from Pixabay



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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com