Love Others!

May 22, 2025

Love Others!

We are commanded to love! 

The love commandment is more than a suggestion or a recommendation.  The love commandment is more than an expectation or an aspiration.  The love commandment is more than good advice or a sincere request.  The love commandment is more than a moral directive or a social mandate.

We are commanded to love!   

When challenged by the spiritual leaders of the first century, Jesus describes the greatest of all the commandments.  In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.”     

Jesus follows the greatest commandment with a second commandment which He says is equally important.  In Matthew 22:39 Jesus says; “And a second (commandment) is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

Jesus commands us to love other people. 

In I John 3:11 we hear;“For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

In I John 4:7-8 we hear; “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

In I John 4:19-21 we hear; “We love (one another) because he (Jesus) first loved us.  Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

We are commanded by the Lord God to love other people!  It is clear from Jesus as well as the writings of the Apostle John, that our love for Jesus cannot be separated from our love for other people.  If we really love Jesus, we will really love other people.  If we don’t love Jesus, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to love other people. 

The kind of love Jesus commands us to give to other people is no small thing.  Jesus commands us to love those who are easy to love, those who are hard to love, those who have hurt us, and those who we are convinced are our enemies. 

I have struggled with the depth and breadth of the kind of love which Jesus commands us to give to other people. 

+When I have been betrayed, it is hard for me to love the betrayer. 

+When I have been the victim of dishonesty, it is hard for me to love the deceiver. 

+When I have been assaulted, it is hard for me to love the abuser.

+When I have been ignored, it is hard for me to love the self-absorbed. 

+When I have been oppressed, it is hard for me to love the oppressor. 

+When I have been pushed to the margins, it is hard for me to love the manipulator.

And yet, Jesus commands you and me to love the betrayer, the deceiver, the abuser, the self-absorbed, the oppressor, the manipulator, and all the other hard to love people.

In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus says; “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the gentiles do the same?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

For most of us, this is one of the hardest teachings of Jesus.  The deeper the pain that has been inflicted on us, the more difficult it is for us to love the person who has hurt us.  It is easier to define them as our enemy than it is to love them like Jesus loved His enemies.  It is easier to avoid them or rationalize why we should not love them than it is to love them like Jesus loved the difficult people around Him.  It is easier to convince ourselves they will never change than it is to love them like Jesus loved the people who everyone was convinced were hopeless.

Loving other people can be one of the greatest sources of joy we can know on earth.  And yet, the kind of love Jesus commands us to give to other people extends far beyond those who are easy to love, those who reciprocate our love, and those who appreciate our love.  Jesus commands us to love all people…period!

I confess I am still learning how to love those who are difficult to love.  The good news is I have learned something on this journey of loving other people.  The more I grow my love for Jesus, the more likely it is that I will love other people in ways that fulfills Jesus’ commandment to love others.

I invite you to join me on this journey of loving other people. 

+A first step is to do something to grow your relationship with Jesus a little deeper.  Maybe you can begin by reading your Bible with a focus on what Jesus says about loving other people.

+A second step is to write down and pray for the one person in your life who is most difficult to love.  Maybe it is the person who hurt you once or is still hurting you.  Maybe it is the person who did the unspeakable thing to you but is still in your life.  Maybe it is the person who will not accept you for who you are today.  Write down that person’s name, stick the paper in your Bible, and pray for that person. 

+A third step is to pray for the one person in your life who is most difficult to love.  If you can, pray God will bless that person in some way each day for the next seven days.  You will offer seven prayers for that person asking for seven different blessings for that person in the next week.

I am not naïve enough to believe everything will be set right for each person who reads this devotion.  However, I believe these three steps can start a journey that the Holy Spirit can use to help you and me love other people.  When that begins to happen, our hearts will gradually fill with delight in the Lord for His amazing love for us and for the other person.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug