Devos

What a blessing it is to be writing this article and telling people about the word of God. Speaking to people about God has not always been my strong suit but there is a reason I do it anyways. It is because of the love I have for people just like how God shows His love for people. It is sometimes hard to remind ourselves to love everyone. You might still be thinking of just loving the people you are close with or the people you like; that is not what the Bible says. As you read this article, I encourage you to have a Bible with you and turn to any verses that will be referenced.

In Mark 12:28 you see Jesus is getting asked

“Which is the first commandment of all?”

In verses 29 and 30, Jesus answers them and says,

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

This command still applies to us today. As you continue reading you see the second command we are to follow, which is the foundation of this article. 

Mark 12:31 says

"And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.”

When Jesus is speaking about your neighbor, He is not speaking literally. Jesus means neighbor as everyone around you. We do not exclude our love for people—we are to show the love Jesus commands to everyone.

How do we know we should love everyone? What about the people that hate us for being Christian? I have thought about those questions, so you are not alone if you are asking the same thing. To give an answer, let us look at a very well-known passage in John 3:16. In this verse it says that God loved the world. It does not say He loved Christians. It does not say He loved the disciples. It says He loved the world, which is the whole world. Why would we not do the same as God does?

The next verse, John 3:17, says that Jesus was not sent to condemn the world, so why are we condemning people that do not believe in the same things as us? That is not who we should be as Christians—that is not loving them. There are great examples on how we should love our neighbors, but more specifically our enemies—those who might condemn us or hate us for being Christians.

We have established how we should love our neighbors, but let's look at how Jesus is a good example on how we are to love our enemies. In Luke 13:34 you see Jesus still willing to take those in Jerusalem under His wing and be there for them, but they were not willing to accept that kindness from Him. Another example is when He was put on the cross. We can look in at the same Gospel account of Luke and see Jesus’ death. Jesus is on the cross and asked God to forgive them [Luke 23:34]. Could you imagine yourself being in that much pain and agony and looking at the people that did it to you and ask God to forgive them. I do not know if I could, but Jesus did. Jesus died for those people that put Him on the cross just as much as He died for those who did not.

Next, I want to look at how we are commanded to love our enemies. We saw the command of loving our neighbor as ourselves, but if that is not convincing enough for you to love your enemies, let's look at some more verses from the Gospel of Luke. The very beginning of Luke 6:35 says

“But love your enemies.”

If you have your Bible then you will see there is more than just that small part. As you continue through verse 35 and onto verse 36, Jesus tells us how to be towards people that we consider our enemies. We are to do good to them and lend a hand to them without expecting anything in return. Another verse you can consider is Luke 6:27-28.

 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”

Even Jesus uses such a word like hate to describe the level of feeling people will have towards you, but that is no excuse for us to feel the same towards them.

As I close this out, I want to look at one last passage in the Bible that might prepare you for how people could act towards us. 1 Corinthians 4:12-13 explains the actual treatment we will endure in this life. But now we have some verses under our belts to help us get through the times where we will feel more beaten down by people than ever. Being a Christian is not easy, and it is a challenge to put up with some of the things we see online or out in the world, but even those people deserve the save love that we receive from God every day. Maybe that love could bring them to Christ. 

RISE and Serve is not just a coffee company; it is a company that wants to share the love of Jesus Christ and share the word of God with as many people as they can. They are a great example of how we should love like Christ does. I hope this company helps you get the courage to spread the Gospel as much as it has for me. Let me leave you with one last reminder: If Jesus can love the people that beat Him, spat on Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, and put His body on the cross to die, then we can absolutely love everyone, even if they hate us.