[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_enable_image=”off” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/loving-people-1.jpg” title_text=”Loving People 1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Loving People<\/p>\n
Jesus had a lot to say to His disciples about loving people. <\/p>\n
He \u201cloved His own who were in the world\u201d and told them, \u201cA new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another\u201d (John 13:1, 34\u201335 NIV). He added, \u201cMy command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one\u2019s life for one\u2019s friends\u201d (John 15:12\u201313 NIV).<\/p>\n
These commands could be interpreted as instructing us to love other believers. Clearly we are to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, \u201cWhoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:20\u201321 NIV).<\/p>\n
But Jesus also emphasized the Old Testament instruction to \u201clove your neighbor as yourself\u201d (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27). His parable of the Good Samaritan reveals a broad view of who qualifies as a neighbor (Luke 10:25\u201337). The Apostle Paul reminds us, \u201cLove does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law\u201d (Romans 13:10 NIV). <\/p>\n
Jesus gives His followers an even more radical call to \u201clove your enemies and pray for those who persecute you\u201d (Matthew 5:44 NIV) and again to \u201clove your enemies, do good to those who hate you\u201d (Luke 6:27 NIV). Paul, a persecutor of Christians before his conversion, reminded the early church that love \u201ckeeps no record of wrongs\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV).<\/p>\n
Loving people does not mean we endorse their actions or join them in harmful behavior. \u201cLove does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:6\u20137 NIV).
\nWhile we don\u2019t delight in the evil actions of our neighbors and enemies, we still love and forgive them. The Worldwide English translation begins 1 Corinthians 13:7 with the phrase \u201cLove forgives everything.\u201d This may remind us of the request in the Lord\u2019s Prayer for God to \u201cforgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us\u201d (Luke 11:4 NLT).<\/p>\n
Our Book of Discipline calls Free Methodists to fulfill our mission with \u201choly love\u201d and \u201cparticipation with God in bringing holiness and love to bear upon the sins, hurts, and needs of all people.\u201d Instead of doing this through our own strength, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit \u201cto love and serve God and others in joyful obedience.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Loving People Jesus had a lot to say to His disciples about loving people. He \u201cloved His own who were in the world\u201d and told them, \u201cA new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","iawp_total_views":175,"footnotes":""},"categories":[465],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mission-vision"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 22:23:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fmcusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}