Love is a word used in so many ways and expressed in different contexts, yet the most remarkable example of love is demonstrated by the heart of the Heavenly Father when He gave His one and only son as a gift to the world. He could have expressed his love through His words, which alone would carry weight, but he also chose to back up His words through action because of His great love towards us.
Romans 5:8 AMP says, “But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
To think that whilst you and I were wasting our lives in sin, Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place. Before we knew Jesus, we were lost and hopeless, separated from God, yet because of his great love, Christ died for us. He willingly yielded Himself, displaying true humility, and suffered ridicule and shame when He paid the ultimate price to redeem and restore our relationship with God.
Romans 5:5 NLT says, “For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
As children of God the outward expression of a transformed heart should be evident by how we choose to love one another. God is love, and His love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, when we yield and submit to His ways, He will lead and show us how to love as He loves. He will also give us eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that responds in obedience.
I don’t know about you, but it’s easier to love those that are loveable and agree with us. However, the challenge comes when someone disagrees with us or has different opinions than ours. They may have even wronged or hurt us and yet, we are called to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 6:44).
Within my own life, there have been times where I have needed to put this truth into operation, and it hasn’t always been easy, mainly when the last thing that I wanted to do was to forgive and love and pray for them. However, I have learned that to walk in freedom, I need to choose to do things Gods’ way. Am I saying that this was easy – absolutely not!
Did I want to hold onto the hurt and resentment that I felt – yes! But I am thankful that God’s grace and truth were freely available to me. Though the process and the journey that I was on took longer than I had hoped, I can now look back and thank God that “He brought me out into a spacious space; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19 NIV).
