More Love in His Word 2-24-2025
If we love Him we will keep His commandments, in fact, we will choose and desire to keep them and love one another!
And you must
love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and
all your strength.’ The second is
equally important: ‘Love neighbor as
yourself.’ No other commandment is
greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
As I go
through this month focused on the word love, the most obvious is the Love of
God towards us but also our love toward Him and those around us. So why do we
love one another? We do because He commands us and we want to be honorable
before Him.
Sometimes
that is not the easiest thing to do. When a loved one passes away sooner than
we wanted, it is hard to love God the way He loves us. Sometimes it is hard to
even really believe that He loves us because it seems that He inflicted us with
this pain.
Reality
hurts at times, but ‘stuff happens’, and though God is in control He allows us
humans to make dumb choices that unfortunately effect other’s and often breaks
our heart in the process. The honor comes when we accept the things we cannot
change and take that courage He offers us to do what we an with life around us
to encourage and love one another in life.
We can look
at Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane praying to the Father God asking Him there is any other way to achieve our
salvation without going through the Crucifixion. We can later see where He asks
the Father to forgive the men on the crosses beside Him as He hangs there. I
think that is love of a neighbor clearly! Showing us to forgive even unto
death!
People can
be ignorant, sometimes mean, but God forgives them so we should too.
It is God’s
will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make
foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so
don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone and love the
family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.
But if you suffer for doing good and endure it
patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it
means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you
must follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:15-21
Yes
sometimes things happen that cause us to suffer, death, injuries, even illness
can cause us to suffer. People’s words can make us suffer, but we can do
something about that!
We can make
sure we are not walking in deceit, or jealousy, or hypocrisy, but instead we
can walk like Jesus. With the respect of those around us, we will mirror that
respect to them. Think on that a moment. Do not be overcome evil but overcome
evil with good!
It can be
easy to lash out when we are harmed or insulted but instead show love. When we
do that it’s putting the person into God’s hands to deal with.
It will not
be easy to get rid of these things unless we cry out to God for help! He will
answer our cries when He hears our honorable heartfelt prayers.
So, get rid
of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all
unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you
must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of
salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s
kindness. You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s
temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
And you are
living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you
are his holy priests. Through the
mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say I am placing a
cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for
great honor, and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.” Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God
has given him. But for those who reject him.
The stone that the builders rejected has
now become the cornerstone.” 2 Peter 1-7
Even Jesus was
rejected but God had a plan, He used it for His glory! And so can we!
Put Jesus’
example before us today!
Live honorable, loving, forgiving life today!
In Jesus’ name!