Everything about Jesus’ coming to the world hangs on LOVE. His love for sinners, His love for the sick, His love for the diseased, His love for the poor and so on. He manifested His Great Love for the people and those in hunger when He fed 5000 and 4000 men respectively (the women and children were excluded from the numbers). Jesus nature of love He came to teach the world was actually different from what the world has as love today. He brought God’s version of what love is and how love got to be exercised. This is why He said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you” (John 13: 34 – 35). Before His coming, the Jews and Gentiles believed one can love his friends and hate his enemies. The general believes in dealing with one’s people then is “tooth for tat” kind of relationship.
Jesus taught His hearers to love God with all their minds, and with all their hearts, and with all their strength and to love their neighbours as they love themselves (Mark 12: 30 – 31). This has been considered as the greatest commandment in the Bible. Before and after Jesus came, many find it difficult to love God with everything in them as well as find it more difficult to love fellow humans as they would love themselves. Jesus meant that loving has to be genuine and all inclusive. Claiming to be Christian and refusing to love God, Jesus Christ and people God created along with Christians is fake love. Real love is careful to offend the loved. We are to show we love God and Jesus Christ by keeping their commandments. About Himself, Jesus has to tell His disciples “If you love me, keep my commands…” In loving God as Jesus taught, we must love God with our hearts and minds and not by lip services.We are to love God with all our strengths. The strengths here can include our physical strengths and resources (money, wealth and materials.
Another strong teaching on love by Jesus is “Love your neighbours as you love yourself…” This teaching is fading away rapidly among Christians these days. Love of selves has overwhelmed love of our neighbours. We love our neighbours by giving them help, solving their problems as we have the strengths, attending to their needs as well as ensuring they are helped when sick. We show Jesus kind of love to the poor by assisting them financially without borrowing them on interests. Our love for people has to be conspicuously manifested. We are to show the love in a clearly manner and not with a hidden agenda. Some will argue that Jesus said the right hand should not know what the left hand is doing, and therefore, loving conspicuously is unbiblical. Jesus was discouraging the attitudes of the Pharisees who go round announcing what they are to do for people before doing it so as to attract people’s accolade. Beloved, is your love for God and your neighbours in line with the Jesus taught love? Check your love banks on your inside.
PRAYERS:
1. Lord Jesus Christ, I want to love you, love God my Father and people around me as you have loved me. So help me Lord!
2. Jehovah my Father, fill my heart and mind with love for mankind. It is only through this I will be known as your child. Help me in Jesus name.
POSITIVE CONFESSION:
I purge myself of every self-love which block my genuine love for others toady. Hallelujah!
bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch