Love One Another

Lately, I have been reading through the book of Ephesians. The message is clear - put off your old self (which is evil) and put on the new self (which is Christ). For the sake of this blog, and indeed it is the truth, Christ is love. So really, put on love as your new self.

This is something that I have been struggling with lately. Loving everybody, just as Christ has loved me. That is to say, I need to love everybody unconditionally, just as he loved me, even while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8). What does it mean to love everybody as Christ loves us? Well, if that isn't a huge question, I don't know what is.

The fact is, every single person you will come into contact with today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your life, has a soul. Those people you run into are a creation by the Creator. The person who cut you off, the person who said hurtful things behind your back, the person who just cheated on you, the person who just made you angry for the thousandth time this week and you just want to punch that person in the face - these people all have souls. These are God's children - even if they are still sinners who have not yet been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

So, why do I find it so hard to love these people, even if I know that God still loves them, even if they have just committed a huge sin against a Holy God? Let's be honest here, some of you are thinking, as I once did, "How can God still love those people who just murdered a family, or is a child molester, or who keeps getting on my nerves so much that I have thought of murdering someone myself?"

That's the beauty of it. God loved us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. He is not a God that takes a look at my past, present, or future and says, "Well, this guy does some really bad stuff, so I guess I won't love him."He loved me before I was saved, and He loves me still.

Anyways, I digress. Back to the question of "Why do I find it so hard to love the unlovable?" As humans, we can't even love the people who deserve to be loved (Jesus), let alone love those who are against us. Jesus came to save us, and we spat in His face, whipped him till He was a bloody mess, nailed Him to a cross, and let Him die with sinners. We couldn't even love the one that loves us the most. How can we expect that we will love those who hate us?

This is why we look to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith. I, as a filthy sinner, cannot ever hope to love the unlovable. Not by my own power. However, when we look to Jesus as more than the one who saved us, but rather as the one who is still saving us (oh yes, He is still saving us), we will see that we must strive to attain that level of perfection, rather than just our lowly level of sinfulness. I have said before that we will never be perfect, and we will always fall short of Christ. That remains true. However, if we never reach for that level, we will never even become more like Jesus.

To love the unlovable is to forsake the old self, the way of the world. This world wants us to serve ourselves. This world wants me to look out for me, and let others worry about themselves. Jesus says the opposite. Ephesians 5:1-2 says "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

So, as we strive ever forward to become imitators of Christ, let us love as Christ loved us - while we were still sinners.

Love one another, to glorify God...