a lie about love

I ended last time with the statement, "I want to be willing to pass through Samaria." And this leads me to what I believe is a common deception. I want to look at a number of lies that people believe which are exposed in this story.

The first one comes out as Jesus begins His encounter with the woman coming to draw water. Her response to His request is very blunt. "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" Does God set boundaries on who He will love? Unfortunately, there are many who believe the answer to this question is "Yes." Just like the disciples, there are "believers" who think so, and therefore they also limit who they will express God's love to. Verse 27 tells us that the disciples "marveled that He had been speaking with a woman;" We begin to classify people, putting them in categories of how deserving of God's favor they are. Then there are those like the woman who think, "I'm not worthy of God's love." They may have arrived at this conclusion on their own, or as a result of some interaction with believers. There is a partial truth in this, but the bottom line is none of us are worthy of God's love. He does not love us based on our worthiness. He loves us because it is part of His character. "God is love." 1 John 4:8, and if I am going to make the claim that I know God, love needs to become part of my character as well.

So the question I would ask today is, "Am I willing to love like Jesus?" Let's grow in our understanding of God's amazing love, and allow the love of Christ to control us. 2 Cor. 5:14