1 Thessalonians 3:12: “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,”
What do you struggle with when it comes to your faith? For a lot of people, sadly, faith is reduced to set of rules and regulations. In that environment, we eventually arrive at either at the point of judgment for those who don’t follow the rules like we do, or a place of condemnation when we realize we are unable to follow the rules perfectly all the time. If you’re reading this and think you can say something like, “I’ve never done this, or I have never done that,” remember your accountability to God isn’t just your physical acts – it’s also what’s going on in your mind. If you still think you’re without fault even in your mind, then you need to come to God with that claim and see what He says.
The commandments of God remain to this very day every bit as valuable and true as they were in the days He gave them to us. Satan may have lost you when you confessed Jesus as your Savior, but that doesn’t mean He’s going to leave you alone. He’s going to speak to your sin nature and tell you that because of this grace, you can continue in the behaviors that were destroying you – God will always forgive you. God’s grace does not invalidate His commandments. In fact, they become all the more real, true, and life-giving because you have God Himself confirming these truths as He dwells in you via His Spirit. Jesus narrowed the Old Testament Ten Commandments to two – to love God and to love others.
Today’s verse speaks to loving others. Notice the inclusiveness in these words – we’re to love one another – the Apostle Paul is talking about loving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. However, He doesn’t stop there – he finishes his statement with three powerful words, “and to all.” We are to love everyone – believer and non-believer. That’s as pure and simple a commandment you’re going to get from God. The problem is our ability, or unwillingness to obey it. We might be able to get there with loving our fellow believers, but with the amount of dissension in the church these days, that is proving to be a tough ask. If we can’t get that right, how are we going to do loving others who don’t believe and, in some cases, are devout enemies of Jesus?
It’s not for us to ask, it’s for us to do. That’s what a commandment is. People love to talk about Jesus as their savior, but when asked if He is their Lord, they may not get such a quick affirmative. As your Lord, what He says to do is not subject to debate. He’s the boss, and you are expected to do what He says. Loving others can be a challenge not always so much because they’re so bad, but because we resist out of our pride and self-consciousness. We put ourselves either in positions of judgment or self-condemnation to prevent ourselves from obeying the Lord. The foundation of both of these positions is pride. Pride drives us to be think we’re too high and mighty to lower ourselves to love others who are at our “level.” Pride also drives the mindset that we’re so sure that God’s power isn’t good enough to overcome our weaknesses.
The first step to true obedience to the Lord is to ask him to give you a humble mindset. This is a confession that what He’s asking you to do isn’t possible without His helping you. When it comes to loving others – regardless of whether they are fellow followers of Jesus Christ or not – it’s not easy. Why? – Because they are flawed – every one of them. Here’s the thing – so are you! Jesus loved you enough to go to the cross to make it possible for you to be saved. He was resurrected to live and be by your side to teach you how to love as He did. As your Lord, His commandment is not a suggestion – it’s an order. Are you following it?