Loving those that hate you...(truly accepting Christ)

[reddogs]

Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love God with all your strenght and the second was like it to love your fellowman. Well loving your fellowman doesnt make many distinctions and though it may be hard to accept, Jesus makes it clear that it also includes loving those that may not love you.

Matthew 5:44
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;


So how does it relate to accepting Christ, well truly accepting Christ means letting his love in, take the example of Peter who had a fiery temper and was prepared to hack off a limb or ear on his fellow man if he saw fit. Then he finally understands that truly accepting Christ means to also love his fellowman and brother no matter what hate or persecution was brought against him.

John 3:23
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1 John 4:21
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.


Then you see a changed Peter who relied on Christ to see him through the attacks and persecutions with love as by himself he could not do it. You cannot love and accept Christ and hate your brother or fellowman.


1 John 4:20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

 

[StormyOne]

Those who differ with us in faith and doctrine should be treated kindly. They are the property of Christ, and we must meet them in the great day of final account. We shall have to face one another in the judgment, and behold the record of our thoughts, words, and deeds, not as we have viewed them, but as they were in truth. God has enjoined upon us the duty of loving one another as Christ loved us.
Ellen White, My Life Today, p. 187.

 

[reddogs]

Those who differ with us in faith and doctrine should be treated kindly. They are the property of Christ, and we must meet them in the great day of final account. We shall have to face one another in the judgment, and behold the record of our thoughts, words, and deeds, not as we have viewed them, but as they were in truth. God has enjoined upon us the duty of loving one another as Christ loved us.
Ellen White, My Life Today, p. 187.

Thats what God and His Son are all about, love, and they want all sinners to leave evil behind and accept Christ so He will fill us with His love so we can love back and love each other.....

13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."[b] 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.Galatians 5:13-15

 

[reddogs]

Then there is our carnal nature which hardens our heart to a cold pulsing orb seeking to strike back at those who we feel are our enemies, who give us pain, curse or despise us and do us harm. Then evil fills us with hate, bitter angry rancor and drives us to seek revenge and tell us that we are due recompense to the pain and hurt others inflict........

We even come up with cute little sayings to teach others how to stick the blade of revenge into any who we feel have wronged us....

"La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid,"

 

[LightWorker1967]

Reddogs, this is a nice post to read on a Friday afternoon. Thank you.

When we fall in love, we fall into co-creation. Young children do this with such beauty. Falling in love with a leaf. Falling in love with a place. Falling in love with us. Falling in love with their life!

Do we fall in love with Sabbath each week? Not just as something that we understand intellectually, but because it's SO irresistible?

Could other people fall in love with the Sabbath through us?

I remember moments as a SDA teenager when Sabbath felt like the most structured, limited, and restrictive day of the week. And yet love is so wild by nature. In many ways unstructured, unpredictable, unlimited. Unbounded.

Sabbath blessings to you!

 

[reddogs]

Reddogs, this is a nice post to read on a Friday afternoon. Thank you.

When we fall in love, we fall into co-creation. Young children do this with such beauty. Falling in love with a leaf. Falling in love with a place. Falling in love with us. Falling in love with their life!

Do we fall in love with Sabbath each week? Not just as something that we understand intellectually, but because it's SO irresistible?

Could other people fall in love with the Sabbath through us?

I remember moments as a SDA teenager when Sabbath felt like the most structured, limited, and restrictive day of the week. And yet love is so wild by nature. In many ways unstructured, unpredictable, unlimited. Unbounded.

Sabbath blessings to you!

I always thought that God was about laws, and when my eyes were finally opened I saw God was about love and sharing it with Him and each other. Such as with our brothers and sisters on the Sabbath.........

God Bless and have a blessed Sabbath

Red