"Safe Harbor's" Daily Inspiration

"Beloved let us love one another;
for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God:
for God is love."
1John 4:7,8
"A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one to another."
John 13:34,35

Loving The Unlovable

We cannot love God and hate a person at the same time.
These two opposites cannot dwell in a human heart.
The Spirit God has given to His believing children
through faith in Christ, is a Spirit of love.
We may dislike a person's actions, but not the person.
We are to love everyone, even when there is nothing
loveable about them.
And when we find that difficult,
let us remember, that is what Christ has done for us.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said,
THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you."
Matthew 5:43,44

The admonition "love your enemies" is one of the greatest
statements Jesus ever made.
The love enjoined in this passage is love that originates
from God Himself.
Man is not commanded to attempt to love his enemy
on the basis of mere human affection,
but rather on the basis of a love that comes from God.
The quality of love commanded here
is expressed by giving. . .
"Bless them" that curse you,
"do good" to them that hate you,
and "pray" for them that persecute you.
Loving an enemy involves doing good toward that enemy
in order to win him or her over to Christ.

"And walk in love, as Christ hath loved us,
and hath given himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor."
Ephesians 5:2
Sacrificial love characterizes the Christian life.
We are now controlled by Christ's love.
Christ's love is God's power at work in our lives.

The love of God and the love that Christians show
to one another is a sacrificial and unselfish love;
a love that understands, that sympathizes, that plans,
that works, that gives.
It is the kind of love that prompted God to send His Son
to suffer and die for people who did not deserve it.
Are we loving one another in such a way
that would be pleasing to Him today?

"Grace be with all them that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen."