By Giovanni Hernandez, Kindred
The love of Jesus is always overflowing. His love for this world is the very thing that sustains it.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
It’s interesting to think about how the New Testament writers knew about the word “agape.” Did they look it up in a dictionary? Probably not. Rather, they were so radically impacted by what Jesus was doing and the way that He lived His life that they were experiencing the living definition of Agape love. So when I think about Jesus sharing with His disciples and the world, I know that He wasn’t just sharing how to love others with his mouth. It was through his actions that He showed his love. You might ask, “What kind of actions?”
Jesus shares in Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”
This challenges me and hits me like a pile of bricks every day, because Jesus points out that the greatest demonstration of genuine love is how we treat the people that we simply cannot stand. Think of those that annoy us, that betray us; people we’ve encountered negative experiences with. Whoever our enemies might be, doing good to them and expecting nothing in return is when we begin to show the love that Jesus modeled. But how do we get to that point?
Jesus ended up making himself the enemy of the Pharisees as He accused them of hypocritical actions and corruption. But instead of going head to head with the enemy, he allowed the enemy to kill him. Jesus died for the corrupt, He died for the selfish, He died for the broken.
The love of Jesus is always overflowing. His love for this world is the very thing that sustains it.
So as I look deeper and deeper into why we were created, I truly find that it’s to receive this Love that has been freely given and offered to us in Jesus Christ; but it doesn’t stop there. Once we receive it, we are called to give it back! We give God’s love back to Him by loving others! Only by giving back what we have received do we jump into this understanding of Agape love. I think about my life and realize that anything that is good that ever comes out of me is because of what I have received in the first place. Before I even try to love others, I realize that I can’t; but Jesus did! He chose me and loves me! He doesn’t just say that in a book, but he demonstrated it through his death on the cross! When I really sit and think about that and realize what He did, I know I’m not worthy of it.
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11) In coming before the Father and realizing that God loves me so much that He would die for me, we also must love each other. It is not an easy thing to do, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, the journey of loving anyone—including your enemies—alongside God Himself is a whole different thing. #forfamilysake