0511 彼此相爱
有了…又要加上爱众人的心。《彼得后书1:5, 7》
对于我们大多数人来说，爱是一种模糊的概念；当我们谈论爱时，我们不知道我们在说什么。爱是一个人对另一个人最崇高的偏爱，在属灵上耶稣要求这种至高无上的偏爱是对祂自己（见路加福音14:26）。最初，当「所赐给我们的圣灵将神的爱浇灌在我们心里」时（罗马书5:5），把耶稣放在第一位是很容易的。但是，之后我们必须实践彼得后书第一章中所提之事来看到它们在我们生活中的实现。
神做的第一件事就是强行除去我生命中的任何不真诚、骄傲和虚荣。圣灵向我启示，神爱我不是因为我可爱，而是因为祂的本性如此。现在祂命令我对别人表达同样的爱，说：「你们要彼此相爱，像我爱你们一样。」（约翰福音 15:12）。祂是在说：「我会带一些人到你身边，你无法尊重的人，但你必须对他们展现我的爱，就像我对你一样。」这种爱，不是对不可爱者的高人一等的爱，而是祂的爱；它不会一夜之间在我们身上就显现出来。我们中的一些人可能试图强迫它，但我们很快就感到疲倦和沮丧。
「主…乃是宽容你们，不愿有一人沉沦…」（彼得后书 3:9）。我应该审视自己里面，并记住祂是如何奇妙地对待我。知道神无限地爱我，将会激励我进入这个世界以同样的方式去爱人。我可能会因为不得不和一个异常困难的人生活在一起而恼火；但想想看，我与神是多么不合！我准备好与主耶稣如此紧密地联结，以至于祂的生命和祂的甜美不断地通过我倾注出来吗？无论是自然的爱，还是神的神圣之爱，除非加以培育，否则都不会在我心中保留和成长。爱是自发的，但必须通过纪律操练来维持。
来自章伯斯的智慧
从先例中论证是一件容易的事，因为它使一切变得简单，但那是一件有风险的事情。给神自由发挥的空间；让祂随心所欲地进入祂的宇宙。如果我们将神的工作限制在宗教人士中或某些方式上，我们就将自己置于与神平等的位置。《力图更佳战斗》
0511 Love One Another
…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7
Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
“The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L