Loving with God’s Love

Years back, I shared a house with a friend. This friend had a niece who

also lived with us. For some reason, this girl harbored a dislike for me.

Whenever something went wrong in the house, she was quick to point out that

I was the one responsible when, in fact, I was innocent. This behavior of

hers irritated me a lot, and I in turn developed a dislike for her. But

this state of affairs didn’t leave me with peace in my heart, so I decided

I was going to approach the situation differently. I decided to do what the

Bible says: to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). That meant loving this girl

with the love of God. God loved us when we were still sinners and hostile

to Him. We were God’s enemies because of sinning against Him, but God

demonstrated His love for us when He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us.

Then Jesus rose from the dead, making the way for us to be reconciled to

God. Because God loved us first, His love is available for us to respond

to. When we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we accept His

offer of forgiveness for our sins. As Christians, we are no longer God’s

enemies; we are His friends. And we’re empowered by the Holy Spirit to love

others like God loves us. We can walk in love, even toward people who treat

us unfairly. When we love with the love of God, we will endeavor to treat

people kindly in spite of their wrongdoing. When I began to act in love

toward my friend’s niece, she also changed her attitude toward me. She

stopped accusing me of things I hadn’t done, and she actually became

friendly to me. I’ve since realized that showing people love sometimes

changes them for the better. As I’ve endeavored to walk in love toward

unloving, hostile, and negative people, I’ve seen them begin to respond

positively. It’s like pouring hot water on ice. Cold, hard characters can

be melted by the warm love of God. Charity Kiregyera Have you ever been

accused of doing something that you hadn’t actually done? What was your

reaction? How do Jesus’s love for us, and the power of the Holy Spirit in

us, make it possible for us to love others even those who treat us

unfairly? (Remember, loving after a deep hurt might include setting up

healthy boundaries.) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ

to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Matthew 5:44; Romans 5:6-Romans 5:10; Ephesians 2:3-Ephesians 2:5; Philippians 2:13