Love: the Foundation for Victorious Christian Living Love in Deed (Vol 23)

LOVE

THE FOUNDATION FOR VICTORIOUS LIVING

LOVE IN DEED

Volume 23

06 Dec 2015

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

1 John 3:16-23

‘Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].’

1 John 3:18 (Amplified Version)

It has been interesting to learn about the various ways in which brotherly love affects our Christian life. Last week, we learned that brotherly love is the proof of our Salvation. In the weeks to come, we will learn more about how brotherly love gives us confidence in our relationship with God, and how it enables us to go before God in faith and ask for our requests boldly. However, today, we are going to study about the practical aspects of this unique love.

LET US LOVE

We might all have some understanding about what brotherly love looks or does not look like. For e.g. like John says in the above passage, we do know that brotherly love is definitely not shutting the doors of our compassion when a needy person seeks our help.

But in order to get a clear understanding of it, let us start at a basic point, which is – ‘love’.

LOVE AND LIKE

Loving is one word that is often confused with another similar word – liking. In Tamil, we distinguish between these two. For example, we would say that we love our spouse and that we like ice cream. That is not the case in the English language though. We say that we love pizza, cake, dogs and our spouse! Isn’t that strange?

So, let’s try to establish the difference between ‘loving’ and ‘liking’.

Liking is a natural emotion or the state of the heart that comes from our natural being. It is very basic, physical and does not require a lot of knowledge or intentionality. It is our instant affinity towards something or someone based on the appearance, temperament, color, behavior and mannerisms. It is like how a dog takes to certain people, gets excited about them and wags his tail around them. That does not mean there is anything wrong with having the feeling of ‘liking’. But imagine leading our whole life based on those ‘feelings’ alone. Because as age catches up, beauty will fade and appearances will change. Our feelings of liking will soon go for a toss.

Loving, on the other hand, is so much more different. It goes beyond our basic elemental, superficial instincts and requires the use of our intelligence and intention. In other words, for a believer, loving is impossible without the help of God because God is the ultimate and most perfect lover.

Let us look closer into understanding what God’s love looks like.

GOD’S LOVE

A man once bought a piece of land that looked like a sewage dump. Everybody was aghast and told him that he was making a bad choice. But he looked past the dowdiness and visualized the wonderful, finished product.

Likewise, when God looks at a person he is not distracted by outward appearances. The all-knowing, all-wise and all-powerful God looks deep into our souls and sees our potential underneath all that muck and slime. That is the reason He is able to love sinners like us.

By our own selves we cannot love anybody like that. It is only when the Holy Spirit pours Himself into us and enables us that we are able to exercise love. We then understand that God’s power can transform the person who is unlovable and enable him to achieve his potential. As that truth sinks in, we will be able to love them even though by instinct we don’t have any feelings of liking for them. God’s love therefore goes beyond our unattractiveness and seeks out something good. It is highly intelligent, thoughtful and is full of understanding. It is able to discriminate between the superficial and the reality.

Godly love is being able to treat those who are unlovable as though we do like them. It is not a pretense. It is an intentional act of choosing to act kindly and doing the right thing to them, even though they are mean and annoying. That’s why the Bible doesn’t say, ‘Like one another’. It says ‘Love one another’. We will definitely have people around us who are not going to be easy to like, but we can love them as our brothers and sisters in Christ because of the knowledge that God can transform them completely.

PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

Having understood the difference between loving and liking, let us now see why it is important that we don’t just talk about love but actually practice it.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Matthew 7:24-27

In the above story, Jesus points out that people who only talk theoretically about their accomplishments will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We will be part of God’s Kingdom, only if we hear God’s Word and do them. Jesus likened such people to a wise man who built his house on the rock. When rain came and floods arose, the wise man’s house was not destroyed. But Jesus said that the man who only hears God’s Word and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. When rain came, the foolish man’s house was destroyed.

Similarly, we need to obey and do the will of the Father in order to ensure that we can withstand the winds and waves of troubles that come our way. The world around us is corrupt and is dying. In the midst of such decay and death let our lives, marriages, churches and even nations become strong edifices of practical love that is based on God’s Word.

Copyright © 2014 Victory Christian Foundation. All rights reserved.

Thanks – Rev. Sam Chelladurai

Love: the Foundation for Victorious Christian Living (VOL 22)

LOVE

THE FOUNDATION FOR VICTORIOUS LIVING

WALKING IN LOVE

 

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.  For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 3:10-15

 

Last week, we studied that the proof of salvation is the ability to love our brethren. Let us continue to study about it.

BEING AND DOING

John in this epistle writes about how we must model Jesus Christ in leading our lives as children of God. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience and brotherly love.

Or in other words John is saying that if a person practices righteousness (obedience) and brotherly love, then he or she can be identified as a child of God. The corollary to that truth is that a born-again child of God will exhibit brotherly love because he has the seed of His Heavenly Father in him.

 

Now that doesn’t mean that a believer will never sin. In all likelihood he might sin, but he will not remain in it. He would be convicted and repent of his sins.

So, going back to our main point, a believer will demonstrate brotherly love. That’s because the life and nature of a person cannot be hidden for a long time. Jesus said in Mathew 7:16-19 that, ‘You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire’. Our ‘being’ comes first, then comes our ‘doing’. At salvation, we become somebody new. Out of those new selves,flowgood and righteous deeds. 1 John 2:29 attests it and says, ‘If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him’.

Sadly, while living in this difficult world we often forget our new identities and heritage. The pressures of this world will slowly erode us if we are not careful. It’s like having to remind our children, however good they are, to behave in a manner well fitting to the family’s reputation. It’s easy to get sucked into peer pressures and live in a manner that is completely alien to our new nature. So, let us live in such a way that our deeds reflect our new and beautiful selves.

PROOF OF THE NEW NATURE

Let’s move on to learn what the characteristics of this nature as a Christian are:-

1. A Christian has passed from death to life.
2. A Christian is born of God.
3. A Christian has eternal life abiding in him.

In order to answer any doubt, let us prove these characteristics.

1. UNLIKE THE WORLD

As born-again Christians, we have eternal life. We have now become radically different and are unlike the world.

Let’s see what ‘being of the world’ looks like. 1 John 3:12 says that, ‘not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.’ Cain was a worldly person who had a murderous spirit. When God cursed the serpent in Genesis 3:15, He said, ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise His heel.”So in Genesis 4, when Adam and Eve had a son they assumed he would be the Messiah who would destroy Satan. Little did they know that their son Cain was sinful and wicked. He had a murderous spirit in him. Cain represents the sinful and worldly nature of a person.

For better understanding, here are some general and particular characteristics of a worldly person.

General characteristics of a worldly person

1. He is spiritually dead.
2. He is not of God but of the wicked one.
3. He does not have eternal life abiding in him or her.

Particular characteristics of a worldly person

1. He is self-centered, self-willed and selfish

 

He believes that everything must revolve around them according to their liking. This rule of self originated a long time ago in one of God’s angels – Lucifer aka Satan. Lucifer was a gifted angel created to worship and glorify God. But he could not stomach the idea of giving honor to God. Jealousy, pride, hatred and wickedness birthed in his heart. He gathered a third of the angels and led a revolt against God. But God cast all of them into hell.

 

1. He is a hater

 

This attitude of hatred also originated in Lucifer. He absolutely hates God and all good things. Cain had this attitude. That’s why he killed his brother Abel. Abel didn’t do anything to Cain that prompted him to murder him. But Cain’s selfish ego was hurt because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected his. Romans 8:7 says, ‘Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be’. Cain’s carnal, worldly and wicked mind hated God, and that led him to murder his innocent brother.

 

I recently heard a discussion on a television program about same sex marriage. When one man said that God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman, the other person on the program snapped, ‘Who is God to tell me what I should do’? That’s sadly what a worldly mind looks like.

 

Let’s not forget that not too long ago we were in a similar boat. Titus 3:3 says, ‘For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another’. Hateful and hating one another! What a horrible way to lead a life! That’s why when we become a Christian, we are so far removed from all these vices. We become new people who are unlike anything that the world considers normal.

 

2. HATED BY THE WORLD

 

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.

1 John 3:13

 

Throughout the Bible, we see people hating the prophets of God. In fact the ultimate proof of being hated was Jesus Christ. The Son of God came down as a man, lived among the Jews, healed the sick, performed wonderful miracles, forgave sinners and brought light to many dark lives. Yet the people cried for His crucifixion and instead sought the release of a criminal named Barabbas. They hated Jesus because He was perfect, holy and good. The worldly nature in them could not identify with them anymore.

 

Once, a lady accused me of stealing her child! Apparently at one point they used to hang out as a family together. But since the time her son became a believer in Jesus Christ, he began to set aside Sundays to go to Church. Not only that, he also started claiming to be the child of Jesus. She couldn’t accept the fact that he was not her son anymore. She felt I had encouraged him to become this new person. I explained to her that Jesus does not steal anybody. He would take her son and make him into be a wonderful man.

Matthew 10:34-36 says, ‘Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ Luke 14:26 says, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple’.

In order to avoid misinterpretation and confusion, let me explain one truth about this verse. When Jesus said that a believer must hate his family, He meant that a believer must have Jesus as his number one priority in life. When we do that, the world will hate us because we are not like them anymore.

3. LOVE THE BRETHREN

 

I John 3:14 says, ‘We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brotherabides in death’. It’s easy and natural for us to love our immediate family members. But now that we are in God’s family we must love all its members too. We may be different in caste, language, ethnicity, color and race but because we are all of the same family of God, we are able to love one another.

Many years ago, I was the pastor of a church in America where all the members were white Americans. I was the only ‘non-American’. The people of the town wondered about it. Well, let me tell you how we were able to do it. We were all members of the same family of God, irrespective of our color and creed.

Copyright © 2014 Victory Christian Foundation. All rights reserved.

Thanks – Rev. Sam Chelladurai

Love: the Foundation for Victorious Christian Living Sermon – 22 Nov 2015 (Vol 21)

LOVE

THE FOUNDATION OF VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING

WALKING IN LOVE

 

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.  Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:7-11

BROTHERLY LOVE

Last week, we began to look at a new dimension of God’s love. Let’s continue to study more about it today.

In the above passage John is setting up a strong case regarding our new birth. He says that the proof of a person’s Salvation is his or her ability to keep God’s commandments. Then he points out that there is one commandment in particular that we must keep – that of brotherly love. The love among followers of Jesus is known as brotherly love.

Yes! Not a feeling or experience but brotherly love.

Now, before going any further, I’d like to briefly explain the characteristics of this commandment of loving one another.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BROTHERLY LOVE

1. OLD AND NEW COMMANDMENT

Notice how John refers to the commandment of loving one another as being both old and new. As much as it sounds like a strange thing to say, John was not the first person to make such a statement. Jesus in John 13:34 said, ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another’. Clearly, this was not a new commandment. The Old Testament in Leviticus 19:18 stated the commandment for the first time when God said, ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord’.

So what did Jesus and His disciple John mean by saying that ‘loving one another’ was a new commandment if it actually was a very old one?

Here’s what it means.

When the commandment was given in the Old Testament, nobody had the power to live and fulfill it perfectly. But when Jesus died on the Cross, forgave us our sins and gave us the gift of a new life, He paved the way for the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and empower us to fulfill God’s commandments.

So, essentially, this old commandment of brotherly love was given to a new kind of people (born again Christians) who would be empowered to fulfill it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

2. TRUE IN GOD AND IN US

Let’s go back to 1 John 2:8. It says, ‘a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining’.

What does John mean by the statement that this commandment is true in Him and in you?

It’s true in Jesus because as a man He lived a perfect, sinless life and fulfilled all of God’s commandments. It’s true in us because He has made a way for us, filled us with His Holy Spirit and has enabled us to live like Jesus in fulfilling all the commandments.

3. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WORLD AND US

We need to only look at the world around us to see the absence of this love. Even as the world makes sweeping strides of progress and development in technology and inventions, the murderous spirit of Cain is still lurking around. Both the World Wars of the 20^th century are iconic representations of the pure evil in mankind. In fact, we don’t have to look farther than our homes and offices to spot the monstrous Hitlers raising heads every now and then. Over and over again it has thus been proved that the world is completely unable to love one another. But in this same world, God now has a wonderful set of people or ‘ecclesia or church or called-out-people’ whose distinguishing feature is the ability to love each other like Jesus commanded.

Having explained the characteristics of the brotherly love commandment, let us now look at its implications in our lives.

IMPLICATIONS OF BROTHERLY LOVE

1. DARKNESS TO LIGHT

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love

Colossians 1:13

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:9, 11

 

Christ has brought about a new order of people in this world. A people who had been in darkness have now been delivered to light. Not only are they in light, but their blindness has been healed as well. Earlier they were in darkness and were blind, but now their eyes have been opened and have been brought into precious light. They can now see perfectly.

 

2. EMPOWERED TO LOVE

 

John minces no words in saying that a follower of Jesus will be able to love his brethren. Period! In other words, if we don’t love our brothers we are still in darkness, but if we do love our brothers then we live in light even though we may have many other defects.

 

3. STARK DIFFERENCES

Let us make a quick comparison between the unbeliever and the believer in light of the brotherly love commandment.

Unbeliever

1. In darkness

Titus 3:3 lists an unbeliever’s features. It says, ‘For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.’ – foolishness, disobedience, slave of various lusts and pleasures, living in malice, envious and hateful. Often in the world, these traits are masked by a superficial charm. As we get deeper into understanding the person we recognize his or her follies. Here’s a sample. Suppose two people are meeting after a long time. They would ‘oooh’ and ‘ah’ over each other and gush about how they had missed each other etc. After promising to meet up soon they part ways. Then listen to their private thoughts or comments. Many a time, it will be completely contrary to their public display of affection. The worldly unbeliever calls this pretense and performance a life skill but the Bible calls it a masked evil.

1. Lost

 

The unbeliever does not know where he is going. The darkness controls him. His happiness and life are governed by it.

 

1. Blind

The unbeliever is blinded completely. He has no understanding or insight about life, man or sin. He has no knowledge that he has to give an account for his life to the Eternal Judge one day.

1. Stumbling block

A stumbling block is when a person is unloving and causes trouble wherever he goes. They assume insult and offenses wherever they go and annoy everybody around them.

Believer

A believer is the opposite.

1. In light

He walks and lives in light. Because he lives in light, he knows every step he takes. He does not trip and stumble.

1. Purposeful

He is governed by a Godly purpose in life and is not influenced by circumstances. Every day that he lives is meaningful. One day he will surely reach his destiny.

1. His eyes are open

His eyes are open to who he is. He knows that he was once a sinner, who has now been saved. He now sees the truth. He realizes that Jesus is the solution to all his problems.

1. Helps others

He doesn’t stumble or cause anyone to either. Wherever he goes there will be peace and serenity. He will bring out the best in people. Those around him will see God is in him. Instead of criticizing or gossiping, he will pray for sinners and be compassionate towards them. He knows that he was once like that – an unbeliever – and that because of Jesus he has been saved. So he will reach out in brotherly love to those who live in darkness.

God has put us to shine the light into this world of darkness. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we should not be taken from this world, but that we should live in this world and shine the light of Jesus wherever we go – to be a Godly influence by our words, deeds and our mere presence.

Copyright © 2014 Victory Christian Foundation. All rights reserved.

Thanks – Rev. Sam Chelladurai

 

Love: The foundation for Victorious Christian Living – Walking In Love – Vol 20

LOVE

THE FOUNDATION FOR VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING

WALKING IN LOVE

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:9-11

Last week, we looked at the Ultimate proof of God’s love – the love that was displayed on the Cross! Today, we are stepping into another dimension of God’s love.

Let’s title it as ‘Walking in love’.

WALKING IN LOVE

Walking in love implies loving one another.

Verses 9 and 10 of the above passage set the context well. Firstly, John describes the love of God that He died on the Cross for us. Then he moves forward and says that if God so loved us, then we also must love one another.

TWO BASIC PRINCIPLES

Before proceeding deeper into analyzing this topic, let us study two ground realities related to it.

1. The Christian faith is not just a philosophy or a truth for some meditation. It’s not a mystical faith where one withdraws from real life and spends time in a secluded place trying to understand God. Even Jesus didn’t do that. He lived out His life in the midst of society. God intends for us to lead our lives in the real world with all its quirks and hang-ups.

 

2. The Christian faith teaches holiness and sanctification as part of living out our lives. Unlike many popular theories, holiness is not something that we receive by having a couple of isolated experiences or by attending a revival retreat. It blossoms in us as we appropriate the sacrificial love of God and let it influence every aspect of our life, even that of loving others. Or in other words – holiness is not a onetime experience; it is the outworking of the truth that we claim to believe.

THE LOGIC OF HOLINESS AND WALKING IN LOVE

John in the passage above is logically stating that because God has so loved us we are indebted to loving one another. It naturally therefore implies a responsibility and obligation.

Let me explain the significance of this logic with another Scripture passage.

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Corinth was a city known for sexual immorality. So when many of the Corinthians became Christians some aspects of their past life reared head every now and then. So Paul teaches them not to engage in sexual immorality. He does it in the most fantastic way. He reasons with them and explains logically why they shouldn’t do it. Here’s how he does that. Firstly, He draws a virtual picture of a temple. Everybody knew that a temple is a holy place where God was present. People revered and respected it. Then he says that at Salvation, God (the Holy Spirit) dwells in every believer’s life. So, his body is the new temple. If the body is the temple, then it must not be used for sexual or any other immoralities.

Paul tells the Corinthians that they are not their own. They were purchased at a great price from sin and Satan by Jesus the Savior. Jesus had set them free. How grateful must they be! That gratitude should birth in them a desire to please God in everything they did.

What a logical reasoning! Everything that we do should flow out of our immeasurable gratitude to God’s love.

THREE FOLD PLAN TO LOVING OTHERS

Let’s try to extend the above logic to loving others who often are unlovable or are annoying.

1. Look inwardly

 

Often when somebody bugs us, we react instantly with anger and hatred. Foul language, name-calling and hurting words fly across the room. It’s a pitiful sight to see ‘supposedly’ mature 50-year olds behaving like 5^th graders. But the Bible says that when we are irritated and feel like lashing out, step back. Think for a moment what it meant to have felt ‘God’s love on us’. Let’s take our eyes off our enemy and fix them on God.

 

Let us remember the terrible things we have done in the past. Many a time, our sins are a result of our self – Self-will, Self-trust, Self-centeredness, Self-assertion, Self-conceit, Self-indulgence, Self-pleasing, Self-seeking, Self-pity, Self-sensitiveness, Self-consciousness, Self-defense, Self-sufficiency, Self-righteousness and Self-glory. Every problem in life arises out of this list of self. Let us remember how God wiped them all away by His forgiveness towards us. Then we will be able to pour out our forgiveness to our enemy.

 

2. Look outwardly

 

Next, let us look at the person and distinguish him from his actions. Often we see only the person’s flaws and mistakes, and we don’t objectively look at the man. The Gospel enables us to look at them for who they are – a victim of sin and self.

For e.g.- Imagine a beloved family member who has a skin condition, say sores. He would look ugly and stink. But because he is a family member and we love him, we would differentiate him from his skin condition. We would do everything possible to find the best treatment for him. We are able to recognize that it’s a sickness that’s causing him to look like that. We do not discard or hate the person, because he has a skin condition. We continue to love the person, while trying to help him get rid of the skin problem.

 

In a similar manner, we must look at our enemy who is rude and nasty to us. Let us realize that he is a victim of sin and Satan. Let us be compassionate towards him and pray for him. Let us stop condemning him, and begin to love him. After all, God looked down and saw our sins. He hated the sin in us but loved us. Compassion and love for us overflowed. He sent His Son to save and heal us.

 

3. Joint heirs

 

Soon we will recognize that we are joint heirs. We will go to Heaven and live there with our fellow believer who annoys us. We will share in the blessings of Redemption together. This truth will enable us to cast away our enmity and show love.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude with a story that Jesus once shared. A certain king was settling his accounts. He found out that there was one man who owed him 10,000 talents. The king summoned him and threatened to lock him and his family up if he didn’t pay the dues. The man begged the king to give him some more time to pay up. The king was filled with compassion and so he forgave him his debt. The man walked out and saw another man who owed him 100 talents. He asked his debtor to pay up immediately or be imprisoned. The second man begged him to give him some time to pay his dues. The first man hardheartedly imprisoned his debtor. Now, the onlookers reported this incident to the king. The king was enraged. He got the man and his family put in prison. Jesus concluded his story with the following verses in Matthew 18:32-35 where he said, ‘Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

In the story the first man owed the king 400,000 times more than what the second man owed him! Jesus was trying to impress on his audience how big a debt we owe to God. We could never ever repay God for His love towards us. It’s that huge! Then how can we ever hold something against another person who holds something very trivial against us? Therefore John says – Extend love because we have received an immeasurable portion of God’s love.

The logic of love – We have received immeasurable love from God. The least we can do is extend a small portion of that love to others.

 

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