Second Friend Day - Elmer Towns

enemies. On the cross He uttered, "Father, forgive them." Jesus looked into the faces of those
who had spit on Him and crowned Him with thorns. He saw those who had slapped Him in the
face, scourged Him and made Him carry the cross to Golgotha. Still He said, "Forgive them."
That's love.
Love is not getting, it's giving. Love is giving your life to the one you love. Jesus said,
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13).
This means that when you give yourself, you are loving the other person'. John told us how to
understand love: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (I Jn. 3:16). Love is hard to do because it means
we give ourselves to the one we love. No one likes to give himself away.
When a young man and woman get married, they pledge their love to each other. They
give themselves to each other. This is hard to do, but this is love.
Today's young people think that love is easy, because they think that love is getting.
They're wrong. Lust is getting, but love is giving, which is the hardest act to do. You can give
without loving, but you can't love without giving. When you love you have to change things
about yourself for the other person. At the same time, the one you love will change himself or
herself for you. If you love God, you will change for Him (Rom. 12:1, 2).
3. You learn to love by understanding its demands. Love is not tootsie rolls and
cotton candy; Love is a relationship of giving. You give up your rights and your selfish
pleasures. You accept others, even the ones you don't like.
"But I'm only human," you complain. "It's hard to love my boss."
Don't make excuses for your bitterness and hatred. It is hard to love some people. With
other people, love comes easy. Then there are times you have to work at it. But it is never right
for a Christian to be bitter.
Christians ought to be different and better. Because you live by Christ's standard, you
should be different; because you have Christ in your hearts, you should be better. As a Christian,
you should be characterized by love.
At a village in India, a little girl was asked, "What is a Christian?" Her answer was
simple. "Christians are people who are different."
No people are more alike than Christians. Is it their love that draws them together?
When a born-again believer walks into a crowd, he can usually spot another Christian. As
ministers travel from church to church, they meet new people and make friends. A traveling
Bible teacher once remarked that when he was picked up at the airport, just getting in the car
with a believer he had never met, they became friends. He noted, "We strike up an immediate
friendship as though we've known each other all of our lives. Yet there are unsaved people in my
city that I know, and we have little to talk about." A deep love for Jesus Christ makes the
difference. Because He is in both hearts, Christ gives a mutual love one to the other.