14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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In Romans 12:9-21 we see another call to love Gods people just as He loves us. As you read through the New Testament you see a central reacquiring theme: to love each other. We are to love each other whole-heartedly. We are supposed to actually LOVE and CARE for each other. To hate evil. A strong word: hate. It shows us that God is not ok with evil, we are to hate evil and cling to what is good. Keep hold of what is good and not let it go. When we show love to each other we are to never let that passionate love fade. As we help one another we are to remain patient as we help them through their problems never getting upset or discouraged. When we are to pray we are to really pray. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools God has given to us.
When people hate us we are not to reciprocate with hate, but rather show twice as much love then given. We are to build community with each other: cry with those who are crying and laugh with those who are laughing. Life is to short to go through it with evil in your heart. Everybody that we encounter in our lives has a story to share and a lesson to teach us. Do not take revenge on those who bring us down, God tells us that he will take care of those who hate us when he is ready. Our job is to love, not matter the circumstance.
As we all search around for what true love is, we often forget to look right in front of us. God has given us the greatest example of what love truly is. God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth and live amongst us, to be ridiculed and abused then to die....let me say that again....TO BE PUT TO DEATH....to save us from our own sins. And if that was not good enough example He continues to show us love by forgiving us every time we turn away from him. Sin tares us away from God and He's love for us, but He is always waiting patiently, never growing impatient, never letting His passion for us fade. I do not say this to make you feel guilty but rather to show us, that Gods love is greatlargeabsolutepowerfulexpertmagnificentethusiastic (If you couldn't tell I looked up great in the thesaurus and threw all the words together, yet the word still cant describe Gods great love for us.), I think the best word I could use to describes Gods great love would be: Jesus Christ.
I will admit that love is easier said then done. I can say that I love somebody without skipping a beat which is why love is more then a word. Love is an action, an action I myself need to work on. I can say that I do show a lot of love, to a lot of people. God though has put maybe the biggest hurtle into my life and that would be my brother. My relationship with my brother Jacob is that of a passer on a street. We have not had the best relationship, and I do not hold the highest respect for him. After he has hurt your family in the ways that happened it is hard to go back from that. Not to long ago I did reconcile with him, and begin to explain to him about Christ and how through Christ life is a much greater place. And I know that this is the part of the story where I say he accepted my apology and turned to Christ, well what happened was the complete opposite. After telling me where me and "my god" could burn he signed off and has not talked to me since. Since I did my part to "apologize" should the love cease? I don't believe so, I have not done my part to continue with zeal, be patient with affliction, and have not proceed to pray for him. In these ways, I have failed to love.
How are you showing love to those around you? Is there a relationship in your life that you need to mend? Life is to short to have not said I am sorry and showed love. Are you doing everything you can to show the world God's love? As you find somebody to talk to about your walk with Christ and they begin to confide in you don't forget to show them an even greater love. I will finish this post off with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Billy Graham: "It’s God’s job to judge, the Holy Spirit’s job to convict and our job to love." We are called to show love to all of God's people, lets throw society off...and just do it!
I love you, and pray for you in your walk with Christ
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