Learing to Love Jesus

Lately, there is a well-spoken Christian phrase that has been on my heart. Most of us have heard it, yet I wonder how many of us truly understand it or are even capable of truly doing it. Are you wondering yet? Don’t you hate it when the guy drawing the winning ticket drags it out; you know, he speaks the words real slow and then throws a little story in between numbers? Okay, here it is: “Love the sinner; hate the sin.” I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes that one is really hard to do or even understand. Oh sure, there are those who can just say it’s easy—I love you; I just don’t love you. Well, let’s just say I’m not there yet. Sometimes people can just make you mad, right? I’m not the only one, am I? Actually, I praise God He has helped me to understand this more than I could have ever imagined in the past. We all know the famous Scripture John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But what about John 3:17? “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” I am afraid all too often we act as though God sent us to condemn the world so that His Son might save them. However, if God does not condemn the world, how can we? To love the sinner is to do what Jesus did. Over and over we read of Jesus forgiving the sinners and loving them, while the Pharisees stood by not only judging the sinner, but also scoffing Jesus. The Lord really helped me in this area while on outreach in San Francisco. Here’s a guy who is crying out to Jesus to teach him to love Him, yet at the same time felt the homeless were bums who needed a job, gays were as vile as the devil himself, and so on. There on the street one night He spoke these words to me: “When you learn to love my people, you have learned to love Me.” Wow, did that hit home! Then He followed it up with this: “My children have believed the lies of our enemy. They believe no one could love them, not even Me. Show them my love.” (Tear time.) If we don’t show it to a lost and dying world, who will? The Word of God is His love letter to His people, and we, as His chosen ones, must show that love—unconditionally, without prejudice, remorse, anger, strings, or conditions. These are His people. He died for them. He made a way for them to be reunited with Him, no matter what the cause. Aren’t we all glad we serve a God of grace and mercy, not a God who keeps score? I love my Jesus, and the more I want to love Him, the more I need to love His people. God, forgive me for those times I have forgotten to love your people and not be angered or influenced by the things we people do. Amen.