I John 3:18-20
Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but withactions and truth
Love is not a noun it’s a verb. It only works when we put it into action and most times it's needed when we don’t feel like giving it.
During the fight for Civil Rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and so many courageous people marched against the evils of racism and faced so many hateful people. Dr. King reminded the people marching with him that, “We must overcome their capacity for evil with our capacity to do good.” That capacity was filled and fueled by Love.
There are times when your heart doesn’t want to cooperate with the action of love because we go into protection mode. When you feel attacked the heart’s natural reaction is to fight or take flight but God’s solution is to Love. How do you love hateful people?
1. With actions and truth. Our practice of love is different than our proclamation of love. You can say you love people all day but it doesn’t mean anything until you put it into practice. Love is not always some warm and fuzzy feeling but it’s the hard work of doing right by people when they are doing wrong by you.
2. Our hearts must rest in God’s presence. When our hearts condemn us, that is they will not cooperate with what we know is right, we must bring our hateful hearts and let them rest in the presence of God. Many times we have to love hateful people with God’s love not ours. We can only get that transference by being in his presence through prayer and worship.
3. God is greater than our hearts. His will overrides our need to hold onto hate. Love will not allow you to keep records of wrongdoing.
Dear God,
Give me the strength to Love even when it’s difficult to do so. Take my heart and repair it and use it to Love the unlovable. I thank you that you loved me so much that you sent Jesus after me when I was a hateful mess. Now my heart is filled with gratitude knowing you didn’t have to let Jesus die for me but I’m so glad He loved me first.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but withactions and truth
Love is not a noun it’s a verb. It only works when we put it into action and most times it's needed when we don’t feel like giving it.
During the fight for Civil Rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and so many courageous people marched against the evils of racism and faced so many hateful people. Dr. King reminded the people marching with him that, “We must overcome their capacity for evil with our capacity to do good.” That capacity was filled and fueled by Love.
There are times when your heart doesn’t want to cooperate with the action of love because we go into protection mode. When you feel attacked the heart’s natural reaction is to fight or take flight but God’s solution is to Love. How do you love hateful people?
1. With actions and truth. Our practice of love is different than our proclamation of love. You can say you love people all day but it doesn’t mean anything until you put it into practice. Love is not always some warm and fuzzy feeling but it’s the hard work of doing right by people when they are doing wrong by you.
2. Our hearts must rest in God’s presence. When our hearts condemn us, that is they will not cooperate with what we know is right, we must bring our hateful hearts and let them rest in the presence of God. Many times we have to love hateful people with God’s love not ours. We can only get that transference by being in his presence through prayer and worship.
3. God is greater than our hearts. His will overrides our need to hold onto hate. Love will not allow you to keep records of wrongdoing.
Dear God,
Give me the strength to Love even when it’s difficult to do so. Take my heart and repair it and use it to Love the unlovable. I thank you that you loved me so much that you sent Jesus after me when I was a hateful mess. Now my heart is filled with gratitude knowing you didn’t have to let Jesus die for me but I’m so glad He loved me first.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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