"A new command I
give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
When the devil gets a foothold in our lives, he can create such
a massive mess that we are left dumbfounded at the results. The devil can fill
us with such deep hatred and anger towards another, and convinces us that these
misguided feelings are justified and appropriate. He is a miserably crafty
fella. Not only does he plant the sin, but then he backs it up by convincing us
that we are right in our actions and words. When we are on the receiving end of
this vile mess, when another person dumps their rage and hate on us, it can be
like trying to swallow and elephant in one gulp. The “fight or flight”
mechanism is often engaged, leading us to either fight fire with fire or run and
check out of the situation altogether. But when I find myself in these kind of
situations, or when I have time to reflect on the situations once the smoke has
settled, I am drawn to wondering how God feels about the opposition we throw at
him each day. Every time we sin, we oppose God…we take his commands, and we
stomp all over them. We kick his rules out of our minds and we do what feels “good”
and “right” to us. If God were flawed like man, he might respond like man…either
kicking us in the mouth, fighting fire with fire…or as quickly as he can, getting
as far away from us as possible. But thankfully through Christ, and through God’s
unmatched wisdom and grace, he doesn’t respond like man would. Instead he responds
with love. Because the punishment was already dealt through Christ, God doesn’t
have to fight fire with fire. And because God’s love is so genuine and deep for
us, he doesn’t run away from us, leaving us in our chosen miserable state. God
chooses to forgive…he voices understanding of our pain…he redirects our misguided
steps…and he embraces us as a loving father embraces his child. And because we
are loved in this way, we are called to love others in the same manner. Even
when we have been deeply cut and trampled by another person, we are called to
get back up, dust ourselves off, and extend forgiveness, understanding, and
love to the other person. It defies logic and sensible worldly thinking, but so
does what God did through Christ. May we seek today to love as we have been
loved, allowing the Spirit to give us the strength, confidence, and grace to do
what seems so incredibly difficult. To God alone be the glory!
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