“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers,ⁱ what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  –Matthew 5:43-48

I don’t even remember the details of what happened now, but one day I was thinking about someone who I felt wasn’t treating me the way I thought I should be treated. As always, it was easy for me to list the reasons why I thought I had a right to feel like the way. Before long though, God stopped me in my tracks as I sensed Him asking if I always respond the way I should to God’s love.  Each and every day God’s love is unfailing and He never stops doing good to me; yet how often do I take Him for granted?

God graciously showed me the shallowness of my love. It is easy to love the people who show us love and kindness. It is easy to be in a relationship with people who are just like us, when the give and take are equal.  What about the people who aren’t as easy to be around though, and who require more giving than we take? How we respond in those circumstances proves the actual state of our heart.

Jesus told us this,“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  This verse has confused me in the past because the reality is we probably all know loving and kind people who don’t believe in Jesus.  How then can we as Christians stand out and point others to Jesus through the way we love one another?

The truth is that there is a distinct kind of Christ-like, pure love that is only possible through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  It’s a kind of love that dies for its enemies.  It’s the kind of love that washes the feet of those who will betray and desert Him in the hardest of times.  It’s the kind of love God displays each and every day to all of us who continue to ignore and go our own way. This kind of love speaks the truth to us in such love even though we only deserve His condemnation and judgement.  This kind of love is ready to forgive repeatedly. This love is only found in and through Christ. The love of Christ runs deep and it covers a multitude of sins.