For God So Loved The WorldSample

For God so loved the world...

For God so loved women…
For God so loved preborn children…
For God so loved refugees…
For God so loved men…
For God so loved teenagers…
For God so loved the elderly…
For God so loved immigrants…

…that he gave his only Son.

If God loves all people, of any mental capacity, at every stage of life, of every nationality, from every country, then so must we love them. When Jesus Himself commanded us to “love your neighbor as yourself,” He wasn’t speaking only of those living in the home adjacent to yours: those who look like you, talk like you, and act like you. He was speaking of a love without boundaries and without conditions. He called the object of His love “the world,” offering the gift of eternal life to “whoever” would believe.

Jesus offers two different angles on love: He commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39) and to love others as He has loved us (John 13:34). And in the very next verse, He answers “So what?” in no uncertain terms: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Love as I have loved, says Jesus, so that people will see me in you.

We don’t love to make other people feel good about themselves.
We don’t love to make other people feel good about us.
We don’t love to make ourselves feel good about ourselves.
We don’t love to feel anything about anyone.

We love to point others to God.

When we love people as God loves people, we reflect Christ and point others to Him. In our selfless love we look more like Christ, and others will see in us a reflection of Him and they will know Him more, or maybe even see Him for the first time.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

God knows that you can’t do this on your own. Ask Him to show you how to love people the way that He loves people.