Hearts of Love
And because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved.
Matthew 12:12-13
Hearts of love describes Christians, and as evil increases in the world, love increases in the hearts of Christians. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 8:5) God loves everyone but hates sin, and we are created in God’s image and we love all people and we hate sin. There is no room in our hearts for hate because it is toxic to our spiritual life and our physical life. If there is hate in our hearts for someone then our love is conditional and is not from God. God’s love is unconditional!
Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:26-29) The greatest command is to have love in our hearts for The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and all people. How can God mold us to the mind of Jesus if hate exists in our heart? How can we minister to someone who does evil, if we hate them because of their evil? We love people and we hate sin, and we separate the two, we love people because they are created in image of God, and we hate sin because it comes from Satan and his lies.
If we have God’s love in our hearts, we can minister to them because we care about them. How can we minister to someone if we show that we don’t care about them? Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Philippians 2:3) We treat others with respect even if they don’t deserve it, because it opens the door for them to hear about Christ.
There are evil people in this world who hate Christians, and we stay away from them because they may kill us. However, in this case we pray for these people with hearts of love. We hate Satan’s deceptions and lies because people who don’t know God’s Word, will by default believe Satan’s lies. So our hate goes toward sin that comes from Satan.
Today reflect God’s love through the fruit of the Spirit. Treat everyone with respect and remember if you are criticized, your identity is in Christ, and not in people.
Prayer: Lord fill my heart with your unconditional love so I can reflect Jesus to the world. And don’t let Satan trigger my emotions to take control of me. In Jesus name, Amen