Love is beautiful, but it is beyond emotions or feelings; love is in the actions.
Loving beyond emotions can be expressed as genuine concern and care without expectations. This means loving the unlovable, carrying out an act of sacrifice. This is what God did, manifested in the work of our salvation. The act was constituted by God and all that was required of us was to respond. We as humans are able to love because God first loved us – “We love, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 AMP). Love is God and God is love –”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” (1 John 4:7-8 KJV). We carry out a responsibility of care not only to our acquaintances but also to people we do not know. The recipient would experience this as a visitation from Christ. Any form of love beyond emotions comes from the supernatural and is felt in the supernatural. Opening our hearts to receive this love enriches us to give such love for our neighbor to experience more of God. This is love decoded internally as a feeling and expressed externally as an action.
The perfect love is expressed as love without offense. Offense refers primarily to some act or series of acts which lead another into sin. By themselves, offenses are not hurt feelings, resentment and anger that start as minor irritations or annoyance. However, irritations and annoyances have the inclination to build into far bitterness and grudges, which are sin –“Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek it’s own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense” (1 Corinthians 13:5 TPT). Offense negates love. Love without offense is the person of the Holy Spirit, and for man, this is an empowerment –“But ye shall receive power, after that Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem. And in all Judea, and in Samaria. And unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8, KJV). The empowerment to love beyond emotions is viewing others through the lens of the Holy Spirit and that they matter to God as well-Matthew 5:45, KJV “For God maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good”. The supernaturally empowered man can love beyond emotions. How does this happen?
Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6:27 KJV to “Love your enemies” is one of the toughest in the scripture. Sounds so great in theory but can’t say so much in practice. To truly love our enemies requires us to become more like Jesus. But how? Pray! Our most potent weapon as Christians is prayer. Jesus himself told his followers to pray for their enemies. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour, 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, KJV. Jesus’ last moments on the cross had him praying for his enemies. When we’re told to pray for our enemies…that we may be children of our father in heaven, we’re being asked to intercede for those who do us injury, and those who threaten us, to bless them. It is crucial to note that the kind of love in this context is the Agape love. It is not based on the other person’s likability towards us, but rather an action of the will that does what is best for the other person. This is the type of love God has. In our world today, the norm is to dislike someone who doesn’t like us. But God does not want us to settle for that kind of lifestyle.
Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:17, AMP “Never repay anyone evil for evil”. His gift to us, the Holy Spirit bears fruits in us that allows the agape love to flow through us and to others. Jesus’ call to forgive is all embracing and complete. Forgiveness is seldom an easy task regardless of whether it’s minor or major. So how do we do this? To pull ourselves out of the stench and become the person to forgive? Paul in Ephesians 4:31-32, KJV provides a brave answer which is to “Let all bitterness, wrath and anger, and clamour and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” Pray. Bless. Forgive.
How would you love more today?