Let's Love Like Jesus

As humans, I think that it is a very difficult thing to love like Jesus loved. Jesus loves selflessly, and humans are naturally selfish. Jesus loves to serve people, and humans are naturally greedy. Jesus loves unconditionally and humans are conditional. We were born with the natural ability to love ourselves first. That's why grace and mercy are so important. God has so much of both of these. Grace is the free and unmerited favor of God. Mercy is compassion and forgiveness shown to someone whom it is in ones power to harm or punish. Both of these definitions make me stop and really try to fathom the beautiful God we serve. Mercy, however, is something that I just can't wrap my mind around.

God has mercy for us. He knows what selfish, greedy people we are, and yet he has compassion for us. He forgives us. Why? Because He is a loving God. And because of His grace and His mercy, we are able to love others in the same ways that He loves us. We love because God loves us. We extend mercy because we have been given mercy (that none of us deserve).

So why does the Christian world have such a hard time loving certain people? For instance, the LGBT community. Whether we consider ourselves a part of it or not, the Christian faith has had a bad name with the LGBT community. They tend to be cold and hateful toward Christians because many Christians have been cold and hateful toward them. As Caleb Kaltenbach explains in his book, Messy Grace, Christians and the LGBT community have a lot in common. They just dont realize it because they are too busy hating each
other.

Kaltenbach's book is a book written for Christians and the LGBT community alike. It is a call to love others like Jesus loves us. As a pastor with gay parents, Kaltenbach has had experience in both worlds, and this book talks of how he has learned to love without sacrificing his convictions. It is truly a book that should be read by all people, especially Christians. Its time for us to get in the Word, see what the Bible really says, and stop hating people because they make you uncomfortable. Let's love like Jesus loves.

I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.com.

To learn more about this book or the author (which I highly recommend you do), click here.