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Thursday, May 31, 2012

the forgotten aspect of virtue love

Unconditional love in it's truest form is radical in nature. Jesus' teachings include loving our enemies, praying for our persecutors and blessing those people who curse us. There are no exemptions in not doing these things...for if we really love God, we will keep His commandments (John 14:24) But there is one aspect of God's command that we tend to forget and not include inside the sphere of unconditional love - FORGIVENESS.

Peter once asked Jesus in Matthew 18:21 the extent of forgiving someone...He even offered a traditional answer, thinking it was more than enough to forgive an offender seven times. But Jesus' answer was more than the number Peter had figured. Sometimes, we Christians put a running meter on grace thinking that only a certain definite percentage should only be given to a certain individual. How stupid can we get. Grace is unlimited...when Jesus died on the cross, it was for EVERYONE! "That whosoever believes..." say John 3:16...therefore, the love that the Father had shown us has no limit. God is eternal...no beginning and no end...He is from everlasting to everlasting as Psalm 90:2 had declared. God is also Love, he is virtue love as stated in I John 4:8 & 16. So...if God is eternal, no limits...and God is Love...you do the math!

Unconditional, virtue love is how Jesus operated in this world which we are also expected to operate from (John 15:9) But sometimes, we pick and chose the people we want to show virtue love...and we even chose the things we WANT to express when it is clearly stated in the scriptures the extent of this kind of love Jesus showed. Learn to forgive...don't wait for the other person to ask for it...give it...according to the integrity you've acquired from learning the Word.

Do not put off forgiveness...because in the same manner, God will deal with us. (Matthew 18:35)

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