How to love? Know how much He loves you. We love because He first loved us.

Knowing how much you have failed and how much you are loved and forgiven in Christ will cause you to love and forgive others. We love because He first loved us.

Remember the church in Ephesus in Revelations 2? Like many believers today, they worked hard and persevered. They could not tolerate wicked people. They endured hardship for Christ. They tested those who falsely claimed to be apostles and found them out to be liars. They did not grow weary. Our Saviour Christ Jesus saw all of this but look what He told John to write to them-

4 "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."

This church had forgotten their first love. Many of us consider this "first love" to be our love for God, but it's His love for us. Remember 1 John 4:19- "We love, because He first loved us". Only when we remember and meditate on how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father can we love Him and others too. The love of God (not for God) was no longer in the hearts of the church at Ephesus. Because of this, Christ told them to consider how they had fallen! Christ told them to repent!

Pastors and leaders, unveil the love of Christ always from the pulpit and the flock will love Him, love others and Live Right.

Also, did you notice that Christ said He hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans and not the Nicolaitans themselves? This is how much our Saviour loves the sinner - His eyes burn at sin but radiate love for the sinner, much like a doctor administering chemo to a cancer patient who happens to be his child - he hates the cancer to the same degree as he loves his child. He gave His life for all and does not wish for any to perish.

Believe Right and you will Live Right

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How does one partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner?

How do you partake of the Holy Communion in an unworthy manner and eat and drink judgment to yourself? The bible says there is none righteous, no, not one, so it is definitely not by partaking when you're not 'righteous' as is being preached in many churches today! No one is righteous on their own. 1 Corinthians 11: 29 says it's by "...not discerning the Lord's body." The bible says in 1 Cor 11:30 that "for this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." Notice that it is for the singular reason of "not discerning the Lord's body" and not because you committed some sin before partaking. With Christ as our righteousness and forsaking that which is borne of works of the law, we are righteous in God's eyes 100% because "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Bear in mind that without God's gift of righteous
Read more

Repentance - what is it?

When many of us believers think of the word Repentance, we think "feeling really bad because we sinned," "promising God that we will stop sinning," and "making the decision to live a holy life from now on." But did you notice that there is no Saviour Jesus in this equation? It all rests on you. Jesus does not do anything here. This is a Judas kind of repentance - towards self and not towards God. This is repentance to death and not repentance to life. The Parable of the Lost Sheep shows us what true repentance is - a gift from God. Luke 15: 4 - 7 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that li
Read more

What does it mean to be a "neither cold nor hot" Christian?

Before his conversion, Saul was very zealous for God, upholding the Law and ensuring that anyone who believed that Jesus Christ has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law in all who believe landed in jail. Like his fellow Pharisees, his righteousness depended on his ability to keep the Law. His life and his ministry was all about "Thou shall not" and "Thou shall"... or else judgment, as it is with many who profess to believe in our Saviour Jesus today! Believers, don't be deceived! If you think that it is your various fasts, trips to some mountain, church donations and vigils and almost-strict observance of the Ten Commandments that makes God pleased with you or bless you, you are worse off than pre-conversion Paul and his fellow Pharisees whom Christ referred to as a "brood of vipers." What such people get in return for their self-righteousness is being cut off from Christ, according to Galatians 5:4 "For if you are trying to make
Read more