You are loved. Unconditionally. You don’t deserve nor did you earn it. God loved you (and still loves) while you were far from Him. When you didn’t want anything to do with Him. He loved you when you were smoking pot, or sniffing coke. He loved you through the divorce even if the divorce was initiated by you. You don’t have to work for or earn His love. He loves you because He is love.
Because He loved and chose us, He asks, not demands because love doesn’t demand of another, that we demonstrate that love to others. How?
Have compassion. Many of the miracles Jesus performed was prompted by His compassion for the suffering.
Be kind, gentle, patient.
Walk in humility. Humility is not degrading yourself. Humility is recognizing and acknowledging that Christ in you is the hope of glory.
Be tolerant. Wow, that has almost become a dirty word among Christians. But tolerate means to graciously endure others opinions and actions. God asks us to be tolerant as He is with us. When I read some of my old writings, I am amused at how I now have a greater revelation of grace. But God tolerated my limited understanding. He didn’t smite me even though my theology demanded that He should.
Forgive. Forgive freely. Forgive the unrepentant. Forgive, as you have been forgiven.
God asks us today to respond to His extravagant love (not vie for it) by loving others as He first loved us. It’s okay if we are not perfect in it. His love for us is perfect. His love for us will not ebb and flow according to our ability to love. His love is steadfast and it empowers us to love others.
So brothers and sisters, go out and love the hell out of people – with compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility. Tolerate. Forgive. Love as you are loved.
“You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.”
Colossians 3:12-14 GNTD