We Need to Love as Christ Loves Us

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” -- John 13:34-35

 The world is watching you. How someone conducts themself is absolutely crucial in revealing the truth in the love of God. In psychology, this may be defined as observational learning. When, as pursuers of Christ, we love others unconditionally-- in the supernatural way God intended-- we reflect the love of Christ. But when we condemn people for who they are or what they do, people get the same impression of Christ. But how did Christ handle such matters?

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” -- John 8:1b-11

Love, according to Christ Himself, is the most important thing. And we are meant to love Him, and love others as ourselves. With love, we can change the world.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. -- 1 Peter 4:8

And what about the unlovely? Surely we have all come across people we would rather not "deal with," and people that do us wrong and "deserve what they get." Believe me, there are many people in this world that can be described that way. But how should we respond, as people who are not of the world?

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil." -- Luke 6:27-35

"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,

and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you." -- Proverbs 25:21-22

Speech may be considered another matter. Perhaps we can grudgingly do something good to someone we consider an enemy, but does that mean we have to be kind to them? Sometimes we do as our parents ask, but shout bitter insults as we do so. What does the Bible say about that?

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." -- Proverbs 15:1

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offences. -- Proverbs 10:12

 You see, I have been ministering on YouTube quite a bit, and I cannot express how many "Christians" have called atheists "useless," "stupid," among many other insults. One girl in particular had a list of people she considered worthless and actually told me that atheists "aren't worth [her] prayers, but they're a good source of amusement." I contacted every person I could on her hitlist, discovered something we had in common on their profile, and began chatting with them. One person, in the first reply, actually thanked me for not being one of the religious people that persecuted him.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but to save it." -- John 3:16-17

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. -- Matthew 7:2

None of this, however, means that we should waver in where we stand. The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is wrong, that prostitution is wrong, among other sins. But we are all sinners, and none better than the others. Christ did not condemn us for our sins, but He came to rescue us.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. -- John 15:19

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. -- John 17:13-19

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. -- Romans 12:2

 So, how was Jesus "in the world, but not of the world?" Well, He sought to befriend the lowest in society-- thieves, prostitutes, tax collectors, and even murderers. He spent His time not with kings, but with the most hated. He accepted these people without accepting the acts they committed or participating in them himself. He remained pure even in the dirt and grime of this world (James 1:27).

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ... You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. -- Matthew 5:13-16

What are the purposes of salt? Many have used it as a preservative. We add it to our meals to bring out the best flavors. Some even use salt as a stain removal. Rinsing your mouth out with it heals wounds. Salt can even revive wrinkled fruits and keep roads from freezing. Salt can do a great many things, and perhaps preserving and bringing out the best are what we use it for the most.

And what does light do? Well, shine it into the corner of a dark room: Even a little light scatters a decent amount of darkness. Heck, it consumes the darkness and shadows physically cannot bear to remain in its path. Light also reveals the cobwebs and other messes that might be hiding in the corner. Sometimes light is difficult to look straight into, especially if you're hiding in the dark when Someone shines it on you. But am I wrong when I say we can only clean the messes we see, and we need light to see them?

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” -- Romans 10:13b-15

People need to hear the gospel. Some say that everyone has heard the name of Jesus, and in the United States, that may be true. But almost everyone I talk to has some wild misconception about Him, such as the idea that He allows evil in the world to watch our torture. They may have heard the name, but they do not know who He is. And still others outside this area have never even heard His name. Remember, Heaven and hell are for eternity-- this is our one shot to introduce our loves ones, strangers, and enemies to Jesus.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received God’s mercy but now you have received mercy. -- 1 Peter 2:9-10

I have to ask: Have a single person ever led someone to the love of Christ by condemning them and calling them names? I know those I spoke with never have. One man actually thought he could lead someone to salvation through shock value, by slamming them with the idea that they will soon suffer for eternity with no remedy and by insulting their intelligence. What got me was that he began to do this to someone I have been talking to about Christ for over a year now, and that person became upset at the idea of God in general and even grew annoyed with me, when we have generally been on good terms.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." -- 1 Corinthians 13:1

But how can we claim to love Christ if we refuse the second greatest commandment (to love others as ourselves)? The love of the world was the priority of Christ, and should be our second (after love of Him).

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” -- Matthew 22:37b-40

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
 -- 1 John 4:7-21

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. —1 John 3:14

So, what is love?

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

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