Luke 6:32

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

If we, as Christians, want to truly imitate God, it is vital that we be loving to outsiders. One of the dangers of being a part of the church is that we become enemies with those who are of the world.  This makes sense when we have different goals and values now. We understand that there is a fundamental difference between us and them. That is okay for us to recognize and even to act accordingly as far as making sure they do not influence us with sin. The problem comes when regard them as enemies and do not love them. We are cold and rude to them. This is not what God desires.

Even worse is when people in the church break off into little groups. Again, this is natural as we will be closer to some people than others. The problem comes when become unloving to anyone who is not in our group. We may gossip about them. We may stop caring about them and their needs. Or even worse we may stop caring about their salvation. We may be rude to them, and give them a cold shoulder. What is amazing is that this even happens among those in the Lord’s church. This is unacceptable. We must be loving to all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The reason why we need to be loving to those who are outside of our group, whether that group be the church or a clique, is because that is what God does. Jesus did not die for those who had never sinned. He died for those who had become His enemy. At mankind’s lowest point, Jesus showed them love. What is disappointing is when people accept Jesus’ gift and refuse to show the same love He showed to others. There will be a strong condemnation for anyone who acts in such a way.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.