Mission Possible
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (1 John 4:7).
The more I study the character of God and the life of Christ, the more I see a love that is nothing short of being totally 100% radical! Jesus taught:
"If ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them" (Luke 6:32).
God loves those who don't love Him -- a concept that escapes many believers. When we claim to know God's love, this should be natural for us. It is easy to love those who love you, but is it just as easy to love those who hate you? I have always been fascinated by what Jesus taught in Luke 6:27-29,
"Love your enemies, pray for those who use and abuse you, do good to those who hate you and turn the other cheek when smacked or punched."
If you are like me, you think this chapter should be named
"Mission Impossible"
because in your ability it is. But all things are possible with God.
Yet, this is exactly how Jesus lived His life. Jairus was the leader of the synagogue of the people who were enemies of Jesus. He was a leader of those who lied and slandered Jesus' character, but Jesus dropped what He was doing to go and heal Jairus' daughter. When they came to arrest Him in the garden, Jesus miraculously healed the guard’s ear that Peter cut off trying to protect Him from being arrested. We all know Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. And in an incredible demonstration of love while hanging on the cross after being beaten and tortured, Jesus asked God to forgive all those who had done this to Him. So, we can clearly see that Jesus walked out the love He preached and taught us to live in.
Would it be fair for God to ask you to do something and not give you the ability to accomplish the task? Of course not! But for most believers, when it comes to walking in love, it seems like an impossible task in their abilities.
We were not designed to live this life in our abilities.
Under the law, we were commanded to love God, but under the New Covenant,
God commands His love toward us.
Taking an Old Testament approach to God's love will just end up frustrating you, and you will feel like a failure. Who can really love God with all their hearts, minds, and souls if their hearts are still hardened by sin? Moreover, who can love God with minds that have not been renewed by God's Word and emotions filled with guilt and shame?
Who can forgive others seven times seventy, 490 plus times in a day, if you can't even forgive yourself?
None of this is even close to being possible without knowing and experiencing God’s love for you in a radical way!
The born-again experience is that revolution of divine transformation, which takes place in Christ. In Christ, there is no shortage of love because it never comes to an end. In Christ, we live, have our being and flow in unison with His heart and desires. The love God has for me has nothing to do with what I have done in my past or what I will do in the future.
His love for me is a constant and will never fail me. All He asks is that I trust in it.
When you allow yourself to be loved in a radical way by God, the end result is that you will love others just as radically and they will know it is God's love they are experiencing.
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12).
