Love: This is the four-letter word that makes it so hard to be a Christian! To love as a Christian is to love as Christ loved. To love and pray for those who crucify you on a daily basis? Let’s be honest, it is humanly impossible. Don’t even try it on your own, the failure can be stinging. It is difficult precisely because it requires grace.
As I developed in my Christian life, I often prayed the powerful scriptural verse “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. I reserved this prayer for the tough tasks on my to-do list, little did I know it would soon be required for something as fickle as the ability to love others.
Without grace, how else could I love someone that once made my skin crawl? And yet, of all the possible ways Christ could have summarized His Ministry to His disciples as He prepared to leave them during the Last Supper, He chose love.
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should also love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”. (Jn 13:34-35)
It has been said that this is the greatest commandment and the summary of all the old testament laws. If so, can you and I truly lay a claim to the word “Christian” if we are unable to love others as He wants us to? Can the world tell that we are disciples?
I am determined to explore this concept of Christian love………
Thank you for visiting this page. Please share your thoughts about this post and follow the blog to receive notifications about new posts.
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 