Loving the Unlovely-Matthew 5:43-48

Spurgeon exhorted that, "Love and self-denial for the object loved go hand-in-hand. If I profess to love a certain person, and yet will neither give my silver nor my gold to relieve his wants, nor in any way deny myself comfort or ease for his sake, such love is contemptible, it wears the name, but lacks the reality of love: true love must be measured by the degree to which the person loving will be willing to subject himself to crosses and losses, to suffering and self-denials. After all, the value of a thing in the market is what a man will give for it, and you must estimate the value of a man's love by that which he is willing to give up for it." So to what level are we willing to sacrifice and serve those believers we profess to love? After all, Jesus taught that the badge by which His disciples would be known in love for one another (Jn 13). But what about our enemies? Are we allowed to justify hatred toward them? Surely the Scribes and Pharisees demonstrated that man's innate righteousness cannot empower them to love the unlovely. Yet the New Covenant Law-giver commands His followers to love and pray for their enemies. Our Heavenly Father shows love to both the righteous and the unrighteous and so calls us to His supernatural way of loving. Join us this coming Lord's Day for "Loving the Unlovely" (Matt 5:43-48).