HOW DO WE "LOVE LIKE THAT"

Eugene Peterson says in the Message translation of Paul's letter in Ephesians 5:1-2,

“Watch what God does, and then you do it. Like children who learn proper behavior from their parents…Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious, but extravagant. He didn’t love to get something from us, but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that.”

Another translation says to “Imitate God, therefore in everything you do.”

Paul says, Watch. Keep company and learn. Observe. Imitate. And then Love like that.

Jesus says “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you” (Luke 6:27-28).

Wait, What!?

He goes on to explain in just a few verses later that it is easy to love those who love you. But what about when they don’t?

It’s hard enough to think about loving a stranger like that, but to continue with the theme of my last couple of posts, let’s talk about applying this to someone in your life who is hard to love. It seems easier, right? I mean, you already love them. But I say it can be harder because the hurt runs deeper. And the deeper the hurt, the harder it is to love like Jesus. But God calls us to ‘Love like that’ anyway.

I’m learning that to imitate God, I must first receive His love. I know that sounds strange but the love of God is so big it’s hard to grasp. The Bible says that God loves with an everlasting love. We don’t earn it, we receive it. I don’t think we can truly understand that kind of love.

So how do we live like that so we can love like that? The love of God in you is the only true love that flows out of you.

It’s been said that we must first go Inward, then Upward, then Outward. Meaning we must go inward to find the empty places inside that we look for someone or something other than God to fill, upward to allow Him to fill them, and it is only then can it flow outward to others.

Let’s face it we’re selfish. We want to be vindicated. We expect people to love like we love. It doesn’t come natural to love those who hurt you. Not humanly speaking anyway.   

But God allows and uses differences and challenges to teach us about love. This forces a choice. The choice goes all the way back to creation. God created man and gave him the opportunity to love Him (or not). To love people (or not). Why? Because as I’ve said in the past, I believe that “love, to be true, requires a choice.”

To love is hard. The greatest act of love ever known is the Cross of Christ. Jesus chose to leave Heaven in the name of love.  Each time we choose to love, to forgive, to turn the other cheek, we learn a bit about God because we realize how difficult it is to love like that. As our opening verse says, “like children learning proper behavior from their parents,” we are learning to love from our Father.

If we look vertically to Jesus for all we need, then we will be free to love horizontally without needing anything in return.

If you’re struggling with the concept of loving or being loved, please read Ephesians chapters 1-3. You will see the love of God afresh. Personally, I need to do this over and over again because I need to be reminded over and over again. 

God loves me with an everlasting love that, if I allow it, will flow forward to the people He brings into my life. The easy ones and especially the difficult ones.

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