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”.

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?”  Well, picture a battle field, a man has fallen; he is wounded and dying, but you can help bring that person to safety; however it may involve suffering. Do you do it? Your answer may be, it depends who it is, do I know them, do I love them? God would want our answer to be yes, you will carry that man to safety, regardless of who it is because that is true love – loving God and loving our neighbors, that’s our mission on earth as disciples of Jesus.

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. The rapist is the man on the battlefield that has fallen. Satan has entered that soul. It is the force of evil that causes these heinous crimes. We need to be able to visualize the evil spirit that has entered the fallen man…hate the evil spirit and save the soul. That’s what Jesus did on the Cross. He took upon himself, all our sins and allowed Himself to be tortured and killed for all of us, the fallen souls. 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 want to work alone. He’s waiting for His bride (that’s us) to choose to love Him and help Him fulfill His plan of salvation by helping others to know Jesus and to repent of their sins, by praying, by sacrificing, by persevering and carrying our cross, by doing 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 the perpetrators of crimes and injustices because he wants those souls for ever…Jesus wants to save them…recognizing them as our brothers and sisters and carrying them to a safe haven – that’s true love!

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