 Love is deeper than friendship Loving someone on the basis of liking them is fundamentally flawed because no one stays the same. People change and what we liked about a person may come to irritate us. It might be liking your spouse’s long hair which one day she has cut short or it may be that a husband’s spontaneity now comes across as irresponsibility. A pastor once wrote to his Church that they should “…above all things have fervent love for one another...” (1 Peter 4:8) By God’s grace you can love someone you don’t like. Not everyone at Church likes each other but we should love each other. It isn’t about compatibility or agreeing with each other. Wherever there are people there is conflict. But love doesn’t keep a list of wrongs — love forgives, love perseveres. Not because love likes a person but we love others in imitation of God’s love for us. Christ saves those he loves, not those he likes. He died on the cross while we were his enemies so that we could receive his love. This explains why Jesus commanded his disciples “to love their enemies and do good to those who hate you...” (Luke 6:27). Love seeks a person’s good; love seeks to help a person through acts of kindness sometimes despite how we actually feel towards that person. God doesn’t want us to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good (love). (Romans 12:21) For practical help in choosing kindness, then listen to the messages from the book of Ruth: www.godsgap.net/kindness the Rev (Chris Perona) email:
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