Thursday June 29th, 2023
« No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands. »
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.
31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
When you consider the reason why God overthrew the world by the flood, you will realized that it is His overflowing love that has preserved our world till now.
If God were to apply to our world the same standard He applied to Sodom and Gomorrah, it would have been totally destroyed by now.
Instead of judging the world, God’s overflowing love has provided a means of escape from His judgement to all those who are willing to accept it. John 3:16NLT says:
« For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have Eternal life. »
This is the kind of love that God expects us to manifest towards other human beings, most especially those in the household of faith (1 John 3:15-16).
In today’s Bible reading, God commands us to show overflowing love not only to our loved ones but even to our enemies (Luke 6:27-28).
According to Romans 13:10, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Our Lord Himself established this truth when a young lawyer came to cross-examine Him on which commandment of the law is the greatest (Matthew 22:35-40).
Jesus answered him by simply summarizing the whole of the law this way: love for God and love for our neighbors. In Matthew 22:40CEV , He emphatically said:
« All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.»
Beloved, are you really godly?
Remember that only the godly will make it to heaven.
The character of those who are godly is love: God’s own type of love which overflows.
For our love to overflow like His, we must love even those who despitefully use us. In Matthew 5:45GNT, our Lord says:
« so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. »
This appropriately describes what God’s overflowing love looks like.
For our preaching to be effective to sinners who don’t know the real meaning of love, we must convey our message practically through a life of overflowing love.
Let us give heed to the Holy Spirit’s message to us in 1 John 3:18CEV, which says:
« Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it »
Are you demonstrating love in deed and in truth?
Application: Where is the love of God in you when your brother is in need and you close your eyes of compassion to him? Think about this and repent.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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