Loving People
Jesus had a lot to say to His disciples about loving people.
He “loved His own who were in the world” and told them, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:1, 34–35 NIV). He added, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12–13 NIV).
These commands could be interpreted as instructing us to love other believers. Clearly we are to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:20–21 NIV).
But Jesus also emphasized the Old Testament instruction to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27). His parable of the Good Samaritan reveals a broad view of who qualifies as a neighbor (Luke 10:25–37). The Apostle Paul reminds us, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10 NIV).
Jesus gives His followers an even more radical call to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44 NIV) and again to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27 NIV). Paul, a persecutor of Christians before his conversion, reminded the early church that love “keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV).
Loving people does not mean we endorse their actions or join them in harmful behavior. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:6–7 NIV).
While we don’t delight in the evil actions of our neighbors and enemies, we still love and forgive them. The Worldwide English translation begins 1 Corinthians 13:7 with the phrase “Love forgives everything.” This may remind us of the request in the Lord’s Prayer for God to “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us” (Luke 11:4 NLT).
Our Book of Discipline calls Free Methodists to fulfill our mission with “holy love” and “participation with God in bringing holiness and love to bear upon the sins, hurts, and needs of all people.” Instead of doing this through our own strength, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit “to love and serve God and others in joyful obedience.”