God tells us in His Word that if we profess to love Him but hate someone we are liars. But God doesn’t just tell us NOT to hate people. He doesn’t tell us merely to tolerate people. He commands us to LOVE others.
Well this is a pretty tall order, don’t you think? Sometimes we may even believe this to be impossible. Certain people we’re just bound to hate, right? Or at the very most to muster up the strength to simply like them. But in all honesty there may be certain people throughout our lives there is just no way possible we can imagine wanting to love or even having the ability to love. Oh, but friend, please consider this.
God gives us the ability by the power of His Holy Spirit who lives inside His followers and through the wisdom and strength of the Bible to obey Him.
When we humble ourselves before God almighty with the genuine desire to love, obey, praise, worship, serve, and glorify Him as we should, when we cry out to Him in prayer, when we enjoy an intimate relationship with the Lord through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and a life devoted to Him, when we spend time in His presence and in His Word, God will enable us obey Him in all matters including when it comes to loving those we apart from God would otherwise hate!
“We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” 1 John 4:19-21 NKJV
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV
“as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,” 2 Peter 1:3 NKJV
Oh, Lord, teach us and enable us to love, dear God, oh Father, please compel us and lead us and enable us to do so, all for your glory, oh Lord, AMEN!