It's In The Book!
Christian love is not a feeling but a choice.
"Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining. If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness." –
(1 John 2:7-11 NLT)The commandment to love others is both old and new. It is old because it comes from the Old Testament
(Leviticus 19:18). It is new because Jesus interpreted it in a radically new way
(John 13:34, 35). In the Christian church, love is not only expressed by showing respect; it is also expressed through self-sacrifice and servanthood
(John 15:13). In fact, it can be defined as “selfless giving,” reaching beyond friends to enemies and persecutors
(Matthew 5:43-48). Love should be the unifying force and the identifying mark of the Christian community. Love is the key to walking in the light, because we cannot grow spiritually while we hate others. Our growing relationship with God will result in growing relationships with others.
Does this mean that if you dislike someone you aren’t a Christian? These verses are not talking about disliking a disagreeable Christian brother or sister. There will always be people we will not like as well as others. John’s words focus on the attitude that causes us to ignore or despise others, to treat them as irritants, competitors, or enemies. Christian love is not a feeling but a choice. We can choose to be concerned with people’s well being and treat them with respect, whether or not we feel affection toward them. If we choose to love others, God will help us express our love.
– (1 John 2:7-11 Life Application Study Bible)Love you,
