The Love for People
The reason many people do not walk in the power of God is because they have developed indifference for the people around them. Often we fail to invest in what matters most to God which is people. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “(God)…is not willing that any (person) should perish but that ALL would come to repentance.” The Lord’s number one business is the welfare of humanity. We must not fail to enter into that business with the Lord and start blessing that which He loves most. Our eyes and attitudes cannot remain closed to that which is closest to the Father’s heart. When our priorities reflect His priorities then will God invest into our lives.
The greatest threat that hinders the love for people is offence. Philippians 1:9-10 read, “And this I pray that your LOVE MAY ABOUND more and more…that you may be sincere and WITHOUT OFFENCE till the day of Christ.” This is obviously a priority within the heart of God that people’s love would manifest itself in a greater measure. The amount of love you dole out in life is measurable. The measure that proceeds from you will determine the power of God towards you. Notice what it was that was in direct opposition to the love for people; it was offence. Offence is the great enemy of love.
Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have they which love Thy law (word) and NOTHING SHALL OFFEND THEM.” People who have zero respect for God’s Word are easily offended. Offence occurs when you feel that people have not met your demands and expectations for their behavior. We all are guilty of this at times. We start demanding certain levels of treatment and courtesy and when we do not get what we expected from people we get offended. Essentially, if we would be honest with ourselves, we all tend to believe that people owe us something. That can be a dangerous attitude to have. Basically we believe that our behavior towards people is based on their behavior towards us. By doing so our love now has conditions. God’s love is unconditional.
Romans 13:8 says, “Owe no man anything except to love one another…” The Bible is saying that the only debt we should have is a love debt to the ones around us. We owe one another our love. That means that nobody owes me anything at all and actually I am the one that owes them. Because of the grace of God given to me at the cross of Christ I am in debt to every person. The only way I can justify Jesus’ perfect sacrifice is by living the love life. This attitude would spare you from ever being offended again. The next time someone treats you like garbage you can simply act benevolent and say, “That’s alright; I owe them my love anyway.” Notice the initial phrase in Psalm 119:165 that is printed above, “Great peace have they which love…” Love is the key to peaceful living.
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
