Growing in Love

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans do the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48 kjv

Today, more than ever we are challenged to love those who despise us and this can be a test to our faith.  It is easy to love those who love you, but what about those who mock your faith and have hatred towards you? Jesus said, “what reward do we get by loving those who love us?” Every believer knows in their heart, in order to abide in Jesus and in His word, we must love others as Jesus loved. We cannot do this without His love inside of us. How can we love those who despise us?  

Can we look pass the evil and by faith, “see” these people born-again?

Our Christian walk is not without trials, but we do not have to stay within these valleys. We progress, when we do what the Spirit tells us to do. Are you listening? 

When we boldly love the way Jesus told us to love, we are in the core of God’s will. We are being obedient in Christ. His love empowers our faith because we become completely dependent upon His Holy Spirit to control our lives. Do you have trouble with forgiveness?  We learn to walk in obedience by faith, before the feelings come. We love by faith before the feelings come. We do not wait for the feelings to be obedient. We choose to walk in the love and grace that has been given to us by faith in Christ. We choose obedience, instead of being ensnared by the fear of man. Eventually, the feelings will come.

Yes, you can do this!

We can remain firm. Although we might be wounded, but not hindered through a trial because our faith and trust in God regenerates who we are in Christ and by the authority and power we’ve been given in His name. How? Again, by a total dependance upon The Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Victory follows. What if the victory doesn’t come? Now I ask you, “How deep is your faith?”

Do you always have victory, you might ask?  Yes because we have a God who never fails! 

During our lives we walk through many doors, that all involve the testing of your “love and faith” for God. 

The test of your faithfulness

The test of your calling

The test of your tongue 

The test of your finances 

The test of your marriage

The test of your child raising 

The test of your kindness 

The test of your caring

The test of your humility

The test of forgiving

The test of your motives

The test of your patience

The test of your integrity

The test of your truthfulness 

The test of your long-suffering

The test of your health and eating habits

The flesh will sometimes justify “your rights” during these trials. Ask yourself what does God’s word say about it? Do I believe in my “good judgement” or His wisdom? 

All the while we are walking through these doors, our faith is increased in God. Yes it is! Every single trial should bring you closer to our Father.  We do not become strong by eating pablum or sailing in a boat with calm waters.

When I personally go through a test and pass, my joy increases. Each time I have passed the test it is only because my heart submitted to the Holy Spirit in obedience and loved the way Jesus commanded. I always have a choice to be obedient or to be slackest in my walk. We have a God who reads our hearts, He sees the deep motives and intents of all our decisions. 

My desire is to please our Father, glorify Him and return the love and blessings He has given to me in my life. Not because He needs this, but because I can say I love Him. When you love someone, you will talk about Him and your life will show this. 

He is faithful, when I wasn’t. He loved, when I was selfish.

Victory is always in God’s timing. Jesus never said our walk would be an easy journey. There may be rocks to climb over, dragons to slay, life changing disappointments, heartbreak with tears; but through it all, we walk in the light, as He is light, ever believing and knowing we are loved and He still has us in the palm of His hand. Our Father God is faithful.

I see our walk with Christ as a refining process, from the beginning of this race,  we drop the things that belonged to darkness. We cast aside those things we accumulated when we were of the world and little by little, we let them go. Over the years we move closer to His light, His truth and love of our Father and the supernatural transformation continues to mold us into holiness.  

As we learn, we do. 

The word “abide” is menō in Greek and Strongs definition says:

μένω ménō, men'-o; a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):—abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), × thine own. 

We are all somewhere on this ladder in God’s abiding grace. God created us all differently. When we put Him first place in our lives, He feeds us exactly what we need to grow up and mature in Christ.

“Jesus said: IF ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15:10

What commandments? 

“And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Luke 10:27

We cannot have one commandment without the other. If I am loving God more than myself, my life and everything else involved, I will love you as I do myself. 

Christian, the very first thing in your day should be our Father God. Begin to give Him thanks, give Him praise, give Him glory and tell Him through prayer and through song how much you love Him. Delight yourself totally in Him.

We can love, because His love dwells within us.

Our Creator deals with us individually according to where our hearts are, by our conduct and the standards we hold dear. His Holy Spirit is the only one that can successfully work inside of us and to accomplish His will in our lives. Not on our own, but submitting to His Spirit working in us. 

When I look at a person, I envision them set completely set free. “For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1John 2:16 niv.

Paul too, listened and learned as he walked in faith, just like we do today. We never stop learning. Acts 24:16

Again, I see our walk as a process [1John 1:8-10], this does not happen overnight. We are not gods, but there are times we act it. When you are surrounded in darkness, you cannot see His love, nor can you give love in the way Jesus tells us to love, because we grope in the darkness. Make sense? When we walk into the light [truth], everything inside of us is exposed and little by little all your hinderances can be dealt with. 

“ I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Prayer:

Precious Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your calling us to wake up. Thank you for calling us to grow up. Thank you for calling us to come out of the darkness and into your perfect light. Thank you for teaching us, for training us and for all those who love you. Thank you for calling us to pray for those who upset us, for they reveal to us what we need to deal with inside of us. We ask for a deeper love for those who are still in darkness and to remember to pray for them instantly. We ask for a deeper sensitivity to put down any hinderances that does not glorify you Father. We ask for a keener discernment to not be deceived in anyway or means. We ask that your truth would be apparent in our lives from morning to evening. We ask that we would be examples of your work inside of us that has regenerated our souls. We ask once again, to quicken our spirits to listen to you before we speak. Let our words be grace to those who hear. And, we ask that your Holy Spirit would intervene in our lives; waking and shaking us when we need it. Keep us close  and in your will. Stir up your godly enthusiasm inside of all those who strive to love you first and others as themselves. Stir up those who read this a deep curiosity, craving and conviction to know your Love. Thank you Lord, in Jesus we ask. Amen.