At the core of the life of Jesus, was one who pursued with love those who hated him, forgave those who persecuted him, and died for those who betrayed him. There is a higher calling for the Church, one that loves God with radical zeal and passion, while with the same zeal and passion loving those who persecute them for their radical love for God.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another." -John 13:34-35
We are currently witnessing Satan's onslaughts against love in the body of Christ, both toward one another and consequently to the world around us. In response to these tactics, I believe that Christ is making a beckoning cry to the Church in this hour to “‘love as he loved us.”’ Though this is the simplest blueprint for what the Church is to do, it usually becomes the most profound and difficult thing to manifest in the moments that it means the most. It is much easier to demonstrate an aspect of Christ when not triggered by disagreement, offense, or hurt. Meaning, that loving those who love us is easy; even the world does that (Lk. 6:32).
The command Jesus gave us to “love” was meant to exhort us into evaluating and beholding his love and then reflecting it to those around us. At the core of the life of Jesus, was one who pursued with love those who hated him, forgave those who persecuted him, and died for those who betrayed him. There is a higher calling for the Church, one that loves God with radical zeal and passion, while with the same zeal and passion, loving those who persecute them for their radical love for God. At the core of the great commandment is the above truth, as above all else, we are to love God with all our hearts. If this is happening, the overflow will be loving our neighbor as ourselves, and as Jesus articulated, that neighbor is our enemy (Matt. 5:43-45).
Many find themselves wrestling with holding tight to truth while walking in the love of God. The two are not in conflict with each other, and one doesn’t have to dimmish for the other to happen. Meaning, that preaching truth is love, as truth will be what both sets us free and ultimately judges us. Any love that doesn’t have another’s eternal destiny in mind, isn’t love, it is a fear-based compromise that loves the applause of men more than that of God.
Love doesn’t have to compromise truth to function. In fact, you can disagree with another’s “truth” yet still value their life. The question becomes, do you honor opinions or people? When we honor or dishonor based upon another’s opinion or preference, we show our carnality in perspective as we don’t see them from the perspective of heaven, but rather from a worldly one. Ultimately, you will become the judge and jury of who is worthy of your honor, demonstrating that you are ‘wise in your own eyes.’ When this occurs, we devalue the heart of God, believing we must protect his truth, all the time devaluing the very thing he values the most - people.
Usually, the way we express whether we value another’s life is our response toward them in situations of disagreement. Unfortunately, the world often witnesses the Church as a hypocritical bigot whose primary agenda in life is to promote their opinion and preference at the cost of cutting off those they disagree with. This leads me to express a critical truth that we each need revelation of, “The fruit is not our war, the root is.” The ungodly moral behaviors in the lives of others are merely a fruit of a satanic root. All bad fruit is merely a reflection of the root in which it is operating underneath.
As Paul stated, our battle is never against flesh and blood but rather spiritual forces in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12). We are not called to cut off the bad fruit, making war against people who have latched themselves to the demonic root of Satan. If we truly love, our war will no longer be positioned against people who are oppressed by the devil, but rather the devil himself. God's love longs for people's freedom, and that love possessing our heart will long for the same thing. We must stop trying to cut off the seen bad fruit and begin waging war against the unseen demonic root. Walking in radical zeal for Satan’s destruction, with the same level of zeal for others’ spiritual freedom.
Similarly, love is most expressed when presented with an opportunity to betray, gossip, or slander another. It is in these moments we can choose to move forward to partner with the scheme of Satan or the heart of God. Love is the choice that one makes to honor others the way God does, even when we feel justified not to. Love is the foundational fruit that bears witness to who you follow, either Christ or the culture of the world. As John said, “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn. 3:18).
According to 1 John, when it comes to love, TRUTH matters. It is not subjective but absolute and objective in Christ and critical for the Church to both search after and stand firm in. Discovering this truth comes from seeking out God’s heart without an agenda to validate what we already believe to be true or our preference and opinion of a particular situation. Without this purity in pursuit of truth, we will adopt the “truths” we want to, ultimately conforming to the truths of the world, calling them God’s will, all the time aligning with the wisdom and schemes of Satan. At the root of this reality is the truth that the ‘god of this age’ and the ‘prince of the power of the air’ has infiltrated the thinking that has developed the values and priorities of the Church (2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2). As a result, many Christians have been duped into believing “evil to be good, darkness to be light, and bitter to be sweet” (Is. 5:20). They end up promoting the agenda of Satan calling it freedom, peace, and love. Honestly, we are all privy to falling prey to this demonic tactic. The hour we live in requires great vigilance in our discerning, and without being sober-minded and watchful, we will fall asleep to the wisdom of God and get drunk on the wisdom of the world (Eph. 5:12-13).
It is time for a Church of love to arise, holding firm to the truth, preaching, and proclaiming it with boldness and courage while simultaneously moving in God's compassion and love. We must move past knowledge-based Christianity and begin discovering and partnering with the heart of God. Our knowledge that has puffed us up in arrogance and disempowered us from true love in the most important moments must be cut off (1 Cor. 8:1-3). We need people who desire an intimate knowledge of God that leads them to love their enemies, pray for those who persecute them, and begin to do good to those who do evil to them. We need the sons of God to arise who operate in the love of Christ. Who knows, it may just be this love that is the refreshing rain from heaven showering on those who do evil and the sun that rises on those entangled in darkness (Matt. 5:45). It may be this earnest love that covers over a multitude of sins, leading many to sorrowful repentance that brings about God’s salvation (1 Pet. 4:8).
