If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.     1 Corinthians 13:2-3 HCSB

I want you to try to imagine living your life without love. Perhaps you feel that you are living this way. I can’t imagine what that would be like. From an early age I felt the love of my family, both my immediate and extended family. I felt the love of my church family and as I went to school and started making friends I still have friendships that I cherish.

It’s good to feel loved, but it’s also good to love others. It truly is better to give than to receive. But, sometimes this is hard to do. Often times we love those who we feel may not reciprocate that love. God doesn’t call us to love only those that love us, He calls us to do the really hard stuff. He even expects us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44-45). Jesus calls us to a higher standard.

Maybe you feel that they don’t deserve your love or your forgiveness. Be very careful about thinking this way. We are told in Matthew 6:15 that if we refuse to forgive others, our heavenly Father will not forgive us. We all sin and come short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). We are all in need of a Savior. We all require forgiveness.

Our Scripture passage tells us that without love we are nothing. We can be beautiful, intelligent, physically very strong, but without love none of those other attributes do us any good. God requires us to love. He calls us to a higher standard by calling us to love our enemies. He expects us to love those that aren’t always so lovable. He expects us to love them and pray for Him and trust in Him to bring judgment and vengeance how and when He deems it necessary.

Now I know you may be sick of me quoting Matthew 22:37-39 to you, but it is the greatest commandment after all. I think it’s critically important that we know it, memorize it and live it. We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. It’s not a suggestion, it’s a commandment. When we love God in this way, it is easier to share His love with others. We want to put others above ourselves. We can’t help but love others just as He loves us.

My friend, if you are harboring anger or resentment towards anyone on this planet, I beg of you to let it go. I beg of you to turn it over to God. Let Him deal with it in His way and in His timing. We must love them and leave the rest up to Him.

Harboring anger or resentment leads us to put ourselves and our needs above the needs of others. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us to do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. We are not to lookout only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others.

For me, the hardest thing God has called me to do is to love. It’s hard because He called me to love those that aren’t so lovable. It’s hard because He called me to love those that have hurt me and those that I love. But, we are clearly told that without love we are nothing.

1 Peter 4:8 tells us that above all, we should keep on loving one another because love covers a multitude of sins. We all have a multitude of sins.

Jesus laid down His life for us, there is no greater love (John 15:13). If He can love us like that, we should certainly be able to love others enough to pray for them.

The one thing we must remember above all is 1 John 4:8 which says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love”.

Your hurt, anger, and resentment are not worth holding on to. They will do nothing for you, but bring you further down. Without love you are in a rut. Let go and give all that stuff over to God and get on with what He calls us to do. Love Him with all you have and love others as you love yourself.

Have a great day!