Matthew 22 : 39: And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Love is the basic foundation of Christianity. Therefore, it is said to be the first and great commandment. Today’s article is about loving one another. When we are asked if we love others, we will surely say “yes.” We say that we love our family, coworkers, community and church friends. The question is, do we love them as it is commanded in Matthew 22:39, which is to love others as we love ourselves?
We cannot deny that we tend to love others with certain conditions. For example, we are able to love those who do good to us, who are giving, who often help us, who have the same interests and characters as us, and those who do not trouble or hurt us. The Word of God says, “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32) This verse clearly says that there is no value if we love those who love us because it is only profitable to us and those who we choose to love.
Let us learn to love as it is asked in Matthew 22:39, which is to love without expecting anything in return, to love as we love ourselves. For sure, it is not easy to love others as we love ourselves because this kind of love needs sacrifice – our emotions and flesh. This love also requires us to give the best for others, as we also want the best for us.
The Lord wants us to love others; and others mean everyone. So not only do we love our closest ones, we should also love those who hate us and are mean to us, as well as those who we do not know. Because this is not an easy thing to do, we need to ask for Christ’s love to fill our hearts so that we are able to love as it is the Lord’s will.
If God’s children love others as themselves, then we can be sure that His church will be filled with peace and harmonious relationships. Where there is unity, there will also be the Lord’s blessing and anointing, Psalm 133.
As the love in this world grows colder, let us love one another even more so that the world may see that Christ’s love is in the midst of God’s children.
God bless.
Publishing Team, IBC Church