Love is a commandment, not a suggestion

Jesus said in John 13:34: " A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. So, right out of Jesus' own mouth, we get these words and yet folks still don't want to love one another. He didn't say love people that love you back. He didn't say love people that look just like you or people that are in your immediate family or circle of friends. He said love one another as I have loved you and He loves everyone and gave His life for each and every one of us. We must love people. When the pharisees asked Jesus, which is the greatest commandment, He told them to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Neighbor meaning everyone that you meet. Do we really love people? Do we love them as much as we love our own selves? Would we give them the same consideration that we give our own children or grandchildren?

We must love one another and that is all there is to that. He didn't say hey, let me make a suggestion just love folks if you can. No, He said love one another as I have loved you, and you know since He has loved us first, then we can love others. I was watching a DVD with Beth Moore and she said something profound that has stuck with me. She said,"People who are loved well, love well." Meaning those that have received the love of God and know that they are loved, love others well. This is a wonderful revelation because sometimes I come across people that are just not all that loveable but, if I am going to be like my Father, that is love,by the way, I must learn to love every single person that I encounter.

Loving God and loving others is all there is really. Our whole lives as Christians should come out of those 2 vitally important, life encompassing things. Loving God and loving people. Because when we do these 2 things, we will find that lots of the "little", "insignificant" things will drop by the wayside, never to be picked up again. When we are making decisions in our lives and we ask ourselves, am I showing God's love through this action? Wow, that makes things become so crystal clear. The love of God is something that our fallible minds just can't comprehend. His love is BIGGER and STRONGER than any force on earth. His love is what sent Jesus to the cross to die for our sins. His love is boundless and endless. He loves us with an everlasting love. His love is not conditional, by no means. He loves us when we are in our ugliest state and He sees past our faults and goes right to the heart of our needs. He loves us. Plain and simple. When I pray, I always start out with thanking Him for all that He has done for me and I never get passed the first few words before I begin to cry. Thank you Lord for loving me even when I didn't love myself and I was far away from You.

He loves us and so because that we are so well loved by Him, we can in turn love other people. The love of God is what brings people to Christ. Not being judgmental or critical about their sin or their shortcomings, it's the love of God. So..today as we go about our busy lives, let's remember to love other people the way that He loves us.