We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

- 1 John 4:19-20

Loving God is easy because we know He’s patient, kind, loving in return, and His goodness knows no bounds!

However, it’s the loving others around us part that can be challenging.

When the workers at the grocery store are rude, when our co-workers are snappy, when our cousins at the family reunion are offensive, when the neighbors are critical of your faith… It can feel hard to show love in those moments.

However, if we don’t act like Christ would in those moments, then we are behaving no better than the rest of the world.

The key to loving difficult people is by experiencing the love Christ has for you and falling more in love with Him.

The more we pursue Him with passion and draw close to Him, the more we become like Him. The more we become like Him, the easier it is to show love to others, even if they’re not loving people themselves.

The things that once were so offensive to you start to roll off your shoulder. The words that once stung don’t penetrate your heart anymore because you are so saturated by the love of Christ and wrapped up in His presence!

When we begin to understand how amazing, unconditional and undeserving we are of Christ’s love, something changes in our hearts. We become more humble and grateful for His extravagant love and grace, thus urging us to extend the same love and grace to others, even when they don’t deserve it.

Today, how can you show the love of Christ today to those around you?

As lovers of Christ, we are also representatives of Christ. We represent Him to the world by how we choose to love others around us. The more we fall in love with the One who loved us first, the easier it becomes to love others.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love others the way you do! I want to represent your kingdom and who you are in a way that glorifies you and draws others to you. I long to fall more in love with you and to experience your amazing love in full measure so I can extend it to others!  

With Love,
Sarah Sherstad