“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” – John 15:19
To love God is to be hated by the world. Christians will be laughed at, left out, rejected, bullied, yelled at, physically harmed, and even murdered for what they believe. We choose to be set apart by saying “no” to sexual immorality, laziness, materialism, exploitation, etc. We can simultaneously reject the world’s values while loving the people who are so lost that they cannot see how lost they are.
Forgiveness is part of how we love counter-culturally. We forgive because we are forgiven, and God commands it: Jesus told us that if we do not forgive others, the Father will not forgive us. (Matthew 6:15) We don’t forgive as the world forgives – to let go of bitterness and move on with life – but to obey a loving and forgiving Father. We forgive as an invitation to continually receive Christ’s forgiveness for ourselves and to introduce a loving God to those who hurt us. Like God, we do not want anyone to die apart from him. (2 Peter 3:9)
10. Love Is Here
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” – John 14:15-17
Jesus is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). When he ascended into Heaven, Jesus left his Holy Spirit as a helper, and he promised to return. Hear the tenderness in these words: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may also be” (John 14:3). The Lord wants to live with us, his children, for eternity. He is making things ready to come back and get us. Jesus loves us and will not be gone forever.
But he is also with us all the time. The Triune God is constantly present by his Spirit, and this is not like leaving a representative or a deputy either. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One. By His Spirit, we have God himself in our lives, loving us and showing us how to love well. PLUS, we have the promise that Christ will come and wipe away our tears – this is the very image of a tender-hearted, earthly father making everything right. Because he has kept every promise, he has shown us the best examples of a love that keeps its promises and serves others; we can trust Jesus to do this.
Godly love is not easy, and it was never designed to be. Nothing easy or cheap is worth having. But following a loving God who came in person to show us how to love well is worth the hardship of trying to love people who are hard to love, including ourselves. And because we follow a loving God, we receive consolation when we repent of failing to love as we ought. We get to walk and talk with the One who knows us fully and still loves us. May we show others what his love is like, even though we can barely comprehend “the breadth and length and height and depth, […] the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”. (Ephesians 3:18-19)
Sources: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/4-19.htm
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-does-the-bible-teach-about-love/
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/KevinLeah
