Some may say that true love is that “warm and fuzzy feeling” that occurs when we really like someone. Others may say “true love” is falling in love with your lifelong partner; that person is your “true love”. Here’s what Jesus has taught me. True love is a “choice” that honors God. It may or may not be accompanied by the “warm and fuzzy feelings” and the greatest love of all is sacrificial. It is love that keeps giving, keeps sacrificing for the well being of others.

Jesus said, “But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27) At first glance you may wonder: “Why Lord do I have to love those who hurt me?”

God’s love is more powerful than evil and when we choose to love instead of hate we are witnessing to the power of God’s love and we are conquering evil.

What would the world be like if true love began to triumph over evil?

Imagine that you read in the newspaper that a man has raped a woman; you don’t know the man, do you pray for him, do you pray for the woman?

God would want us to pray for both because that’s true love and indeed God would want us to distinguish between the sin and the sinner. It is the force of evil that causes these heinous crimes and sometimes the people that commit these crimes are very broken.  Years ago I read about a young woman who had been raped and killed.  The headlines in the newspaper were the words of her parents:  “We forgive him”.  The news revealed that the man who raped the woman had suffered the most horrific sexual abuse as a child.  Violence is often perpetuated in a cycle of violence which begins when little children are violated and broken.  This is why we need to keep praying for the safety of all our children.

On the Cross Jesus took upon himself, all our sins and allowed Himself to be tortured and killed for all of us, sinners. So then you may wonder, if Jesus paid the price, why do I have to do anything…The answer is because Jesus, our Bridegroom does not work alone. He’s waiting for His people, His bride (that’s us) to choose to love Him and to help Him fulfill His plan of salvation by helping others to know Jesus and to repent of their sins.  We do this by praying, by sacrificing, by carrying our cross, by persevering, by giving and doing good works that give God glory. That’s true love!

This kind of true love makes the newspaper headlines: It’s the man who jumps in the water to save the person who has jumped off the bridge attempting suicide.   The selfless man risks his safety to save the other person’s life. But the people who help Jesus to save souls, generally don’t make the headlines. They are invisible spiritual warriors, the true bride of Christ, that loves her bridegroom so much that she will be obedient and do whatever it takes to unite the human family in the Kingdom of God. This warrior also understands that there is an invisible enemy that is wreaking great havoc in the world, and this enemy is counting on us hating and not praying for the perpetrators of crimes and injustices because he wants those souls for ever…Jesus wants to save them…Jesus wants us to pray for their salvation!

Today we live in a world where we are surrounded by strangers; we can easily forget that we are all one family and that we need to fight for one another so we all can enjoy the eternal fruits of paradise. Remember Jesus said “if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners’, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6: 32-36

Beautiful lives that give glory to God are continuously thinking about how to please and honour God.  True love is a choice we make when we choose to acknowledge our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness.  True love is a choice we make when we forgive those who have hurt us.  True love is a choice we make when we choose to pray and study God’s Word spoken in the Bible.  True love is a choice we make when we are patient, charitable, kind and compassionate.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…”  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Please join me and Christians all over the world, in a daily solemn moment of prayer to honour Our Saviour Jesus Christ.  We unite at 3pm, the Time Jesus died for us, to thank Him for dying for us, to pray for Jesus to send His Holy Spirit upon us and to silence the power of evil in our world so we can live in peace with God and one another.  We need the mercy of God to change our world, to bring healing, hope, faith and love!  Join in and if 3pm locally is not convenient for you to stop to pray, then choose another time zone and know that you will be part of a powerful prayer community that is remembering The Passion of Christ every day, praying for God’s mercy to be poured out like a healing balm upon our broken, suffering world.  We call this prayer movement, The Mercy Movement.  Learn more here.