Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.  If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leader.  But my kingdom is not of this world.”

Pilate said, “So you are a king?”

Jesus responded, “You say I am a king.  Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth.  All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” – John 18:36 (NLT)

Jesus left his heavenly kingdom to bring truth and light to our world.  This world is not his true kingdom and it is not our true home.  Just like Jesus, we are to bring truth to a world lost in deception.  But what does that actually mean? I believe that this is simply being love to a lost world.  We are to share what Jesus demonstrated on the cross.  His unconditional love.  We all know and probably can recite John 3:16.  God loves us so much that he gave the ultimate sacrifice in the death of his son.  His love for us is what has saved us from an eternal life of pain and suffering.  A life separated from him for all eternity.  LOVE!!!! This, I believe is a foundational aspect of our Christian walk.  Without love, we can do nothing.  We have not truly stepped into our true life with God until we love.

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.  – 1 John 3:14 (NLT)

Until we can begin to love just like Jesus loved, we cannot be used by God.  We are here on earth to do two things: 1) Love God 2) Love people (Matthew 22:37-40).  All else will follow if we are living a life of love.

I do not believe that loving unconditionally means ignoring sin.  I do believe there is a difference in blatantly ignoring sin and seeing past the sin to the destiny that has been covered by it.  Ignoring sin is silently agreeing with the lie that there sin is justified.  Seeing past it is being able to love the person. To see them the way Jesus sees them.  It’s not about pointing out the sin, it’s about speaking truth and life into the deception that has clouded their heart.  It’s about speaking love through both our words and our actions.  This is what Jesus did.  He demonstrated love to those everyone he was around at all times.  Instead of speaking into the sin, he spoke into their true destiny.  He cared and loved people so much that he gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life.  He died so that we can experience true life at it’s fullest.  And it starts with LOVE!

If you were to take an honest inventory of your life right now, how would your love rate? Are you truly loving God and loving people or are you quick to jump to judgement?  I know this is an area of my life that could use a lot of work.  If you are like me, you can start to change with a simple prayer. Ask God to help you to love like Jesus.  To see his loved ones with new eyes.  Here is an example:

Dear Lord, Teach me to love like you.  Soften my heart to those around me.  Show me how to love through both my word and my actions.  Thank you for the love you have shown me.  Help me to share that same love to others.  Amen!

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.  So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.  – 1 John 3:16