Must I love everyone?!

Last night in our Wednesday Bible study, I focused on the four women mentioned in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew 1. (We know the guys are sinners so we focused on the ladies.) I showed that God's love and grace is so vast and powerful that there is no place that someone can go where God's love and grace cannot find them.

But, I also noted that anytime we learn something about our God, it always requires a response on our part. One obvious application was that since we are so dearly loved by our Heavenly Father, we must also show that love to others.

We love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

We love our Christian brothers and sisters (John 13:35).

In fact, we love every single person we come into contact with, especially those in need (Luke 10:25-37).

In my Bible reading this morning, the Lord reminded me that loving others is extremely powerful. It shows that I'm His child. Specifically, if we don't love everyone who is a Jesus-follower ... then we're not saved. It's as simple as that!

1 John 3:14-15 (New Living Translation)

"If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them."

Are you holding onto any grudges or do you have any animosity toward a Christian brother or sister? You really need to resolve it very soon.