Posted on 07/14/2024 6:42:41 AM PDT by OneVike
We are told by John that, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1John 4:8 John goes on to write that it is impossible to love a God you cannot see, if you do not love your earthly brothers. 1John 4:20 As Christians, we need to understand that if God loved the world and gave His only Son to become a propitiation of our sins, then we should also love one another. John 3:16 & 1John 4:10 So we wonder by reading such passages how we can love the way God loves us. Allow me to first give some background on the apostle known as John.
If we had known John when he was still following Jesus as a young man, we would have been stunned by the transformation of his heart. I refer to the day that Jesus sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan town to prepare a place for them to lodge. They were told by the elders of the town they would not be welcomed and thus Christ and His disciples were turned away. This must not have sat too well with the two brothers James and John, because they asked Jesus for permission to call down Fire from Heaven to consume and destroy the city. Jesus not only denied their request but rebuked them for their evil hearts by pointing out what manner of spirit they were to be. Luke 9:51-57 This little exercise in hatred earned James and John the name Boanerges, which in Greek means, "Sons of Thunder". However, by the time John was an old man and had written his gospel, epistles and the revelation of Christ, we clearly see the Lord had done some major overhauling in him, because we now know John as the "Apostle of Love".
There is another incident that we can look to for answers to this question. It was recorded by John in his gospel and it took place when Jesus revealed Himself to the apostles at the Sea of Tiberias. John 21:1-18 After they had eaten some fish the apostles caught, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Remember, Peter had denied Jesus three times when He was being mocked, beaten, and illegally tried for blasphemy. Matthew 26:69-75 Jesus was reminding Peter of his three denials by asking if he loved Him three times. John 21:15-18 One can only imagine the sinking feeling Peter had when Jesus asked the first time if he loved Him more then the rest, because it was when Jesus revealed that they would all abandon Him that Peter spoke vehemently saying, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" Mark 14:27-3
Now before I continue, it is important to understand that the English translation of the Scriptures hides a very telling part of the three questions by Jesus. The first two times Jesus asked if Peter loved Him, He used the Greek word "agape" for love, while Peter would only respond with the Greek word "phileo". There are four different Greek words used for love, but for the purpose of this message I will deal only with the two, "agape" and "phileo". "Agapê", is a sacrificial kind of love that asks for nothing in return. This is what God showed us when in spite of our many character flaws and weaknesses He still loved us enough to sacrifice His only begotten Son to give us a chance at eternal life with Him. Now "phileo" is the kind of love you show a brother, not a brother in the sense of family, but in the sense of kinsmanship. This is also the root used in the word Philadelphia, thus the reason they call Philadelphia the 'City of Brotherly Love.
What John reveals is that Peter admits he does not have it in him to show an agape sacrificial love that Jesus asks of him. However, the third time when Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, He does so by using the level of love that Peter knows, phileo. When He does, Peter breaks down and tells Jesus, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus then tells Peter:
What John reveals to us here, is Peter admitting that he does not have it in him to show an "agape" or sacrificial love that Jesus is asking of him. However, the third time when Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, He does so by using the level of love that Peter is at, "phileo". When He does, Peter breaks down and tells Jesus, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." and Jesus then tells Peter;
What Jesus is telling Peter, is that He will work with the level of love that Peter confesses, and lets him know that a day will come when he will have that agape or sacrificial love in his heart. We know from the writings of such early church leaders as Ignatius of Antioch, Dionysius, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian and others that Peter would experience the kind of love Jesus asked of him when he was crucified in Rome by Nero. All one needed to do to save ones life was to deny Christ and worship the Roman's Gods or Nero as Lord, but Peter would do something he had failed to do when he was much younger. This time he would not deny his Lord. This time he would show his "agape" love for Christ and die for Him as Christ did for us."Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." John 21:17-18
So you see brothers and sisters, you may not yet have the capacity to love those whom you don't like, but as Peter told Christ, "Lord, You know all things". God knows where our hearts are and He knows where they will be in the future. Jesus promised to continue the good work He began in us when we accepted Him into our lives. Philippians 1:6 & Hebrews 12:2 If John and Peter could spend three years in the presence of God while displaying an anger that would destroy a city, or even still have a limited love that was far short of what God called for, well then my friends, I would just advise you to give it to Him in prayer, and He will work on that part in your life that finds it difficult to love those you dislike.
For those who do not know Him, I would ask you to pray and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. I promise that if you are sincere in your request that He will give you a heart to know Him. Jeremiah 24:7 In time, you will see that He is true to His word; maybe one day you will even be surprised to find yourself sacrificing for someone you used to hate.
I pray that those who have ears to hear will hear His voice and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Pray that they get saved. But David was a man of war, and a man after GOD’S own heart.
We are to hate wickedness with a righteous anger- and also to pray for the wicked to be saved. There is nothing wrong with being angry at what the left are doing- we should be angry, and hate the wickedness as God hates the wickedness. However, we are also to pray that God will save the wicked and that is the hard part.
I don’t believe that we are directed to love Evil.
You're a better person than I am. The leftists have drained nearly all of the compassion I used to have. 1/2 of the country wants us dead. Pray for them, if you must, but I can't.
I’m right there with you.
Forgot to mention, we are also to pray that justice be done, and if that means the death penalty judgement for violent criminals, then so be it. But again, we can pray for them to be saved while they await the chamber, getting what they earned, and we don’t have to feel bad that justice has been done, knowing that that person had every opportunity in life to accept christ and chose not to, and chose to follow evil instead.
We aren’t, but Christ did save a murderer, Paul because he loved him. We can have that same type of love and pray for the salvation of the perps, while strongly condemning their evil acts.
Never did I write that. The people who are evil, not their evil deeds
MATTHEW 7:6
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
I think should hate the enemies of God collectively, but lovingly take captives individually.
Philippians 2:13 …….for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
God will give us the ability to live and forgive our enemies when we can’t.
And loving them does not mean warm fuzzies like we love our children or spouse, but to do good to them and work for their good, and to pray for them.
We can demonstrate love for others that we don’t feel and the feelings will come later.
Amen!
God saved a lot of murderers.
Moses, David, The thief on the cross, Saul/Paul and probably many others we don’t know about.
The flip side of this is forgiveness.
Its difficult to “love” someone who has wronged you. My view is, like us, they are fallen beings, blind, sinful. possibly extremely so.
One does not need to accept their acts, nor forget what was done, nor do we allow such acts to continue. But recognize they have a soul, given by God, in which there is always hope of redemption.
Pray for them, but prepare for the eventuality that they refuse God’s gift. Psalm 144 is instructive of preparedness in the face of evil:
“Blessed is the Lord my rock, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.”
CC
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. Seems like it would be a recipe for disaster.
He had no love for Ninevah.
Hey Mr Ness glad you are doing well.
When I was in 2nd grade going to catholic school (back when the dinosaurs ruled) we would actually discuss theological issues like the one outlined above. Of course we were little kids so our ideas about “love” mostly circled around food, pets, and entertainment. (What, didn’t you love your parents? ........ um..... yeah.....I guess.....)
This was an interesting time in my life because some of the kids I went to school with were from these LONG-TIME catholic families, huge families who had lived in the region and attended the same church for generations. They TALKED theology and the bible with their kids.
So we had this discussion going in our catechism class about “why you should love everyone” and some of the kids had some pretty sharp things to say about, for example, the race riots that were going on at the time.
This one kid raised his hand and when he got called on he said (he had a mild speech impediment, so it took him a little extra time to get this all out) -
“I was talking with my Dad about another kid I didn’t like and I said I felt like I was bad because I couldn’t like him and why should I like him because he’s mean to me?! And my Dad said, ‘You don’t have to like people, but you DO have to love them.’”
The question you may ask yourself is: is it really hate, or is it righteous anger? As emotions, each has similarities, but as a thoughtfu and moral issues they are quite different
When I was growing up, my parents, church and schools addressed anger as just “wrong” and negative feelings towards others were often defined as “hate”, so of course it’s difficult to tell the difference.
Please add your own prayer along with those of others (mine included) Jesus knows our every thought and emotion anyway. It doesn’t have to be lengthy.
“Jesus, I want to follow Your Word to love my enemies, but I can’t seem to get there, I pray for Your perfect will and help”.
Use your own words He WILL answer.
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