love

Jesus advised us in the so-called Golden Rule, “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). He also taught us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39, quoting Leviticus 19:18). Over the years, when I have followed his instruction, I have discovered this pattern: when I love my neighbor as myself, I love myself more. This enables me to love my neighbor more, which enables me to love myself more. And on the pattern goes.

But what if this pattern is not a coincidental product of chaotic chance but one dimension of our Creator’s design for us and our world?

So, how do we love Jesus when it’s hard to love Jesus? The good news is that we don’t have to try harder to do better. Love is a “fruit” of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). To love God’s Son well—or anyone else, for that matter—we must therefore have the help of God’s Spirit. Here’s how:

We have focused this week on our status as the children of God and its implications for our lives and faith. Today, let’s consider this fact: people judge our Father by his children. When we are loving, kind, and compassionate, they are more likely to think the same of our Lord. When we are hateful and condemning, they are likely to see our Lord in the same way.

You and I are called to love Jesus with “love incorruptible” (Ephesians 6:24). Such integrity is for his glory and to our good and that of everyone we influence. This is why we must not compromise with the “Canaanites” in our “land.” Satan wants us to think that sin is serving us when we are actually serving him. Then, one day, we will inevitably say with David, “My strength fails because of my iniquity” (Psalm 31:10). Our witness will be ruined and others will be forced to apologize for our moral failures.

Evangelist Nick Hall encouraged the hundreds gathered in Dallas for the Together '22 event to "see" those people around them and "go out there and listen" and "go out there and love."

Being change agents in a broken world requires more than a willingness to be used by God—it requires loving those we are called to serve. Paul grieved so deeply for his fellow Jews who rejected their Messiah that he could wish himself “accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3).

My greatest desire as a father is to love my wife, our sons and their wives, and our grandchildren well. However, as author Jon Bloom notes, “The most loving thing we can do for others is love God more than we love them. For if we love God most, we will love others best.”

Memorial Day is a sacred day to reflect and give thanks to these heroes who have purchased with their lives the lives we enjoy today. For Christians, It’s the greatest modern-day illustration of how much Jesus loves us and wants us to be free from sin, pain, and death.

We need not choose between truth and love. In fact, we must not choose. They always go together, because they are both grounded in the same Source, or specifically, the same Person.

We have focused this week on the work of the Holy Spirit during Holy Week. Let’s close today’s reflection with the fact that the Spirit not only convicts us of the sins for which Jesus died (John 16:8), but he also participates in our forgiveness and restoration “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).