Matthew 22:37-40 New International Version (NIV)

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

We are called to love one another. And I see all this stuff in the news, and the world around me.  I see people being mean and hateful to one another, I see evil daily as I watch the news and I think to myself, how difficult is it to simply love one another as God loves us.

I know that as a Christian, some people have expressed to me, how can you possibly love all the time and believe me, it is not always the easiest thing to do, but it is the only way to be. Every time, I think about being unkind or not loving, I think about what Jesus did for me on the cross. Now that’s LOVE. He died for me. But He wasn’t a sinner. He never did anything wrong, but HE took my punishment on the cross, for all, once and for all.

It’s easy for fear to creep in, and doubt, if you let it, but that’s exactly what Satan wants. If enough people have fear of someone or something that is “of the world” and not of God, than the enemy of our souls can make you those lies seem like truth, but they are not. 

God promises us in HIS WORD that HE will never leave us or abandon us. He tells us that when our burdens are heavy, to give them to Him and HE will give us rest.  Due to the electronic age, the world is moving faster than ever and as much as I enjoy being able to have access to the World Wide Web; I believe that there are many things that people publish or write online to induce fear and panic and because there are no editors to check and double check the facts and sometimes triple check before running something, like they used to do before the internet came into existence, many people believe everything they read and don’t stop to think. This applies to many areas, unfortunately.

Regardless of what you read,it may not always be true, but the Word of God is the same as it was yesterday, today and will be tomorrow. That is one thing that has never changed. Trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

I can’t tell you why things happen or why God allows some of the things that go on in the world and around us, but I can tell you that for those that HE loves and follow Him, he will turn every bad “thing” or experience into good for HIS purpose.

I am reminded of Jesus talking and telling his disciples to love your enemies and pray for them. What good is it to just love those that love you?  If we are to be more like Christ, we have to love everyone. Let Him pass judgement.  

God Loves You~in your mess~in your brokenness~in your joy~in your sorrows~all the time, every breath you take is His gift to you; what you choose to do with that gift is entirely up to you.

I can do all things through Christ, He strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

May you be blessed today and always.