We all have been in trying situations with people we love. Love is usually tested. Jesus always taught His disciples about love. Not the worlds love which says, “Be good to me and I will be good to you”, but His love which says, “Regardless of how you treat me; I love you.” 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the definition of God’s love. Let’s look at what love is not. Love is not envious, prideful, rude, easily angered, selfish, doesn’t think evil, and does not rejoice in evil. Love is the opposite of those things. Love rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and love never fails. There will be situations we will go through that will test God’s love we have for others. It could be a good friend that may have betrayed you. It could be a spouse that may hurt you. The question is, how do we handle these tests?
Jesus gave the ultimate example of how to respond to love being tested. He endured many tests. He was hurt, betrayed, abandoned, mistreated and the list goes on and on. Yet, He never lost love for people. Remember when Peter rebuked Jesus when He told them of the things He would suffer? Peter didn’t want to hear Jesus say these things. So, he rebuked Jesus. Matthew 16:22 says, “But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”. Jesus knew it wasn’t Peter talking. This happened after Peter received the revelation of who Jesus was by Spirit of God. Flesh and blood did not tell him that powerful revelation. Isn’t that something? He says the right thing before saying the wrong thing. This is where discerning of spirits kicked in.
After Peter pulled Jesus to the side to correct Him; Jesus knew it wasn’t Peter talking. Matthew 16:23 says, “Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Peter allowed the enemy to influence him. He went past his boundaries. How can you correct the Son of God? How many times have we or others allowed the enemy to influence us/them negatively? We may have had those moments where we become offended or hurt because of someone’s actions or words. Do you realize anything that comes to steal, kill, and destroy is of the enemy? (John 10:10) Therefore, the enemy is who we address, not the person. We must learn to separate the behavior from the person. This is only one example of how love can be tested. Jesus didn’t throw Peter away. Peter made many mistakes; yet Jesus still used him. Anything tested becomes strong and durable. It should be that no one can do anything to stop us from loving them. We love others as He has loved us. His love doesn’t stop when we mess up. Ours shouldn’t either. Mark 12:30 says, “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ Our love for Him, will enable us to love others.
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