Loving with God’s Love

Years back, I shared a house with a friend. This friend had a niece who
also lived with us. For some reason, this girl harbored a dislike for me.
Whenever something went wrong in the house, she was quick to point out that
I was the one responsible when, in fact, I was innocent. This behavior of
hers irritated me a lot, and I in turn developed a dislike for her. But
this state of affairs didn’t leave me with peace in my heart, so I decided
I was going to approach the situation differently. I decided to do what the
Bible says: to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). That meant loving this girl
with the love of God. God loved us when we were still sinners and hostile
to Him. We were God’s enemies because of sinning against Him, but God
demonstrated His love for us when He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us.
Then Jesus rose from the dead, making the way for us to be reconciled to
God. Because God loved us first, His love is available for us to respond
to. When we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we accept His
offer of forgiveness for our sins. As Christians, we are no longer God’s
enemies; we are His friends. And we’re empowered by the Holy Spirit to love
others like God loves us. We can walk in love, even toward people who treat
us unfairly. When we love with the love of God, we will endeavor to treat
people kindly in spite of their wrongdoing. When I began to act in love
toward my friend’s niece, she also changed her attitude toward me. She
stopped accusing me of things I hadn’t done, and she actually became
friendly to me. I’ve since realized that showing people love sometimes
changes them for the better. As I’ve endeavored to walk in love toward
unloving, hostile, and negative people, I’ve seen them begin to respond
positively. It’s like pouring hot water on ice. Cold, hard characters can
be melted by the warm love of God. • Charity Kiregyera • Have you ever been
accused of doing something that you hadn’t actually done? What was your
reaction? • How do Jesus’s love for us, and the power of the Holy Spirit in
us, make it possible for us to love others— even those who treat us
unfairly? (Remember, loving after a deep hurt might include setting up
healthy boundaries.) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ
to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Matt.5.44|Rom.5.6-Rom.5.10|Eph.2.3-Eph.2.5|Phil.2.13