Divine love is all-inclusive. It does not discriminate whom to love.
1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Y’shua the Messiah if you favor some people over others? 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? JAMES 2 nlt
Divine love is oozing with generosity, uncontaminated with selfishness.
5 God gives generously to all without finding fault. JAMES 1
27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. 28 Do not say to your neighbor “Come back later; I will give it tomorrow”—when you now have it with you. PROVERBS 3
42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him. MATTHEW 5 tev
20 Lend without charging interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite [fellow Christian]. DEUTERONOMY 23
Keavin Hayden told us this story: After Adam sinned, God taught him about the destructiveness of sin by having him take the life of an innocent lamb. Adam had never witnessed death. Yet it was presented to him as the only way to forgiveness. So he took the life of that innocent little creature that had always looked at his master with eyes of love and trust. As Adam stood there in shock from the horror of the scene, the stain of crimson on his hand, he looked up and in agony cried out to God, “Is this what must happen to me because of my sin?” But God’s answer came back with tender love that could melt the heart of the most hardened sinner: “No, My son, that is what must happen to Me because of your sin.” [1]
Giving can cause discomfort or inconvenience to the giver, that’s true, but look at the divine example before us.
16 This is how we know what love is: Y’shua the Messiah laid down His life for us. 1 JOHN 3
God left His comfort zone and incarnated on earth to free us from bondage.
22 The whole world is a prisoner of sin. GALATIANS 3
We may not be aware of it but to sin is to buy selfish, momentary pleasure from Lucifer. In exchange for the pleasure, we pawn to him everything we got—our persons and dominion included—and let him do with them whatever it is that pleases him. It is a pledge that no man can redeem by himself. The penalty for unredeemed pledges is the Second Death (Romans 6:23).
Divine love reaches out to the needy, whatever the cost. God allowed Lucifer, his demons and human agents the satisfaction of shaming Him and tormenting Him to death as a ransom to pay off our debts and release us from the pledge.
1 It is for freedom that the Messiah has set us free. GALATIANS 5
13 The Messiah… took the curse for our wrongdoing upon Himself. GALATIANS 3 tlb
7 In Him we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. EPHESIANS 1
We got ourselves into a predicament, so God came to help.
8 The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 1 JOHN 3
Divine love does not hesitate or retreat in the face of death or extreme suffering when necessary.
16 God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. JOHN 3
9 Here is how God showed His love among us: God sent His only Son into the world, so that through Him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: …He sent His Son to be the kapparah [atonement, expiation, propitiation] for our sins. 1 JOHN 4 cjb
The Son of Man suffered cruel torment, including the humiliation of being nailed to the cross and dying on it—a punishment reserved only for the worst criminals of the time. He died so that all of us might live (Hebrews 2:9). 2 The Righteous One… is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 JOHN 2
18 The Messiah died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 PETER 3
Divine love prevails over temptation. It is neither provoked by rudeness nor by meanness, nor by intimidation, nor by rejection, nor by hurt, nor by anger, nor by spitefulness, nor by revengefulness. Our temptation is to find fault, protest, condemn or react harshly against anyone who delivers discomfort, inconvenience or suffering to us. But the Son of Man did not do that. He meekly received the blows. At the cross His dying words were a prayer: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He always transformed negative situations into positive.
Divine love is gracious. It keeps on loving even if the beneficiary is unworthy to be loved.
10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us… 19 God loved us first. 1 JOHN 4
The human tendency is to reciprocate love for love and tooth for tooth. But that is not how divine love works. Divine love responds to ungodly deeds with godly deeds.
6 The Messiah died for the ungodly… 8 God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, the Messiah died for us… 10 When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son. ROMANS 5
3 We were by [our sinful] nature objects of [God’s] wrath. 4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with the Messiah even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. EPHESIANS 2
God’s heart beats with compassion and mercy even for those who do not love Him.
45 Your Father in heaven causes His sun to shine on the evil and on the good. He sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. MATTHEW 5
During Y’shua’s time, the Jews do not associate with the Samaritans (John 4:9). But in answering the question “Who is my neighbor?” He gave the parable of a Samaritan helping a Jew in need. Read Luke 10:29-37 to better understand this.
Somebody might have rubbed us the wrong way. He might have mistreated us, irritated us, failed us, grieved us... And he might have done it not only once but twice or more... But that does not give us a valid excuse to stop loving him... He remains our neighbor and a valued creation of God. Remember, the Son of Man shed His precious blood and died for him too.
44 I tell you, love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. MATTHEW 5
27 I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. LUKE 6
Divine love is edifying. To edify is to build up our neighbor in the Lord. The process is like putting up a skyscraper; it’s not easy. As we all know, skyscrapers do not sprout overnight. We have to plan our moves and accomplish them one step at a time. We start from the bottom, put up solid foundations, and inch our way up.
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ROMANS 15
Building up our neighbor in the Lord requires personal sacrifices on our part, a large chunk of which has to do with humbling ourselves. “A proud Christian is a contradiction,” said Billy Graham in The Journey. (See box on what humility means.)
4 Love is… never boastful or proud. 1 CORINTHIANS 13 tlb
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil and cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay evil with evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ROMANS 12
In summary, Scripture says of divine love:
No comments:
Post a Comment