Our
mate may divorce us, our boss fire us, our best friend or children get angry
with us, and we may feel rage and hatred toward them for their abandonment.
However, hate is the opposite side of the same coin as love.
It
only takes a coin flip to feel God's agape love for anyone who rejects us. Even
when a loved one dies, our love for them, and theirs for us lives on in our
heart. The Good News is that God always loves and provides for us (1 Peter
5:7-9).
This
allows us to give our dejection to God, and to choose not to hate, but to love.
We learn to accept each other's faults, convictions and feelings, and to
encourage the successes in our estranged one's life.
God's
love covers a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8), casts out all fear (1 John 4:18),
and sets us apart from those without God's love within them (Psalm 4:3). Others
will experience God love from us, and they may come to a saving relationship
with Him as well.
We
have an exciting promise from God of a better and more enduring possession for
our self in heaven than we could ever amass on this earth (Hebrews 10:34); yet,
we spend most of our time, energy, talents and resources focused on now.
Jesus
promises that we will have tribulation in this sin-cursed life; but we can have
joy through it all, when we yoke up with Him each moment, because He already
overcame the world, and He lives within us now (Matthew 11:29; John 16:33; Colossians
1:27).
Patience
and perseverance through trials perfect us, so that we can reach spiritual
maturity and intimacy with God (James 1:2-4). Once we come to understand that
God loves us, we abide in His love, and we live in union with Him (1 John 4:16).
Prayer:
Father
God, we ask that You fill our heart with Your love for others, regardless of
how they feel about us. Your Word never suggests that we must "like"
other people, but it does challenge us to love others as You love us - while we
were still sinners (Romans 5:8).
That
is how people recognize that we are Your true disciples, because we show Your
love to others, even those who wounded or continue to hurt us (John 13:35). We
do not have to spend time with them; but we pray for them, help them when You
direct us to do so, and we want Your best for them.
Thought
for the Day:
God
taught us by example how to love the whole world, and His spiritual power
within us helps us to follow His Holy Spirit's direction for how to put feet to
that love; the love we feel for others never really ends, it just changes
direction.
