Love As Christ Loves

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 

                                  (Eph 5:1-2 KJV)

Love others as Christ loves you. What does that mean? 

Jesus gave his very life for our sakes. He gave it because he loves us. So what exactly does it mean to love like he does?  At the very least it means that we put the well-being of others before our own selfish desires. At the very least it means that we respect others without calling them names because we disagree with them. We can disagree without being ugly to one another. It is not love that calls us to  persistently judge or persecute others because we do not agree with them.

That does not means that we should say nothing when someone sins by harming others. Saying nothing can be construed as approving of something that is most harmful. Jesus did call out people in their sins. He called out the Pharisees and Scribes. He called out the moneychangers in the temple. He called out those men who were getting ready to stone an accused adulteress. But, he did not call for their deaths. He did not plan their downfall behind their backs. What he did was sacrificed himself by dying for them just as he died for all people that whosoever would believe in him would receive forgiveness of sins and life in the eternal presence of God in the heavenly kingdom.

Real love means caring for others even if you don't like or agree with everything they think, say, or do.

God's Peace - Pr. J.