The steeple of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC. (Photo courtesy Spencer Means)

By Tom Shanklin

When a 21-year-old man walked into a church in Charleston, South Carolina and killed nine innocent people, his plan was a to start a race war. But many of the people in the church, rather than reacting with hatred and vindictiveness, responded with forgiveness and prayers for this deluded young man. They chose to make peace instead of waging war.

That’s godlike! That’s what God did. He made peace through the blood of His Son. Walking in love, loving the unlovable, returning good for evil is being like Jesus, and that’s exactly what we are called to do. It’s not enough to curse the darkness. We must BE the light!

You see, you and I carry on the work of the Gospel by walking in love. As the scripture says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Ephesians 5:1, 2, NKJV.

The Gospel is all about love. It’s about a God who loved humanity so much that he sent His only Son to make peace and reconciliation. Jesus is love in action. It is the power of that love that will change the world.

The world, on the other hand, is full of evil—and the reason is a lack of love.

I watched a report on 60 Minutes about drug companies charging thousands of dollars for prescription drugs for cancer. There is no good reason for the exorbitant costs, except that people are desperate and willing to pay anything just to stay alive a few more days.

To make things worse, the U.S. Congress, in order to pad the pockets of the drug companies, has made laws forbidding Medicare from negotiating the price of these drugs. So, the companies set their own price with no restriction or negotiations, and then they even give doctors a kickback when they prescribe these expensive drugs. The result is that government is going broke and people are spending their life savings in order to pay the co-pays. The drug companies, however, are doing quite well…at least financially.

That’s greed. That’s evil. That’s because people are not loving their neighbor as themselves.

The same goes for all the other evil in the world, whether it be ISIS terrorism, human trafficking, or other immoral and despicable behavior. It’s all because of a lack of love. In order to combat this evil, we are going to have to manifest the opposite spirit. We are going to have to learn to return good for evil, and pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. We are going to need to walk in God’s supernatural, unselfish, sacrificial love.

I’ve been in situations in my life when I’ve been attacked, criticized, persecuted, and slandered. It’s tough! If you are somewhat spiritual, you can take it for a while and not bite back. But after a time, it wears you down, and you react. But think of Jesus. The scripture says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7, KJV.

He took the punishment on the cross for you and me. He prayed for those who had cursed Him and nailed him to the tree. That’s love!  That’s the love of the Lamb of God! As the scripture says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16, KJV.

God is looking for this kind of love in His people. He wants you and I to manifest the opposite spirit of the drug companies, ISIS, and those who wish to start race wars. He doesn’t want us to wage war. He wants us to wage peace. He wants us to bring out the big guns of mercy, compassion, love, and kindness to combat the evil of this world. That’s why He has placed His supernatural love in our hearts. We are mobile carriers of the love and compassion of God, and we are sent to bring life and healing to a lost, confused, and hate-filled world. As that love flows out of us, God is manifesting Himself in the earth, for God is love.

Many times we wonder, “When is God going to do something about the problems that are in this world?” Well folks, think about it! He already has! He sent the ultimate peacemaker…the ultimate healer. He sent love personified in the person of Jesus. Now Jesus says to us, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” John 15:9, KJV.

Continue in MY love—not the mooshy gooshy, touchy feely love of the world, not the love of carnal men and women, but Jesus’ love—the kind of love that lays down your life for another, the kind of love that cares more for others than yourself. This goes beyond being moral, ethical, and fair. It’s a sacrificial, life-poured-out love.

The church’s first martyr, Stephen, had that kind of love. It was not a manipulative, flattering, human type of love. No, in fact he preached a sermon that was so hot with convicting power that it got him stoned. He loved the people enough to tell them the truth. The Bible tells us that those who stoned him laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And the scripture says of Stephen, “And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Acts 7:60, KJV.

Think of it! Stephen died praying for the forgiveness of those who were stoning him. He prayed for Saul, who was later called Paul, a man who later was converted and turned the world upside down with the preaching of the Gospel. Stephen didn’t fight fire with fire. He fought fire with love, and out of that sacrifice and powerful intercession came forth one of the greatest ministers to ever live on the earth, a man who reached much of the known world and wrote a large portion of the New Testament. Through love, an international terrorist became a mighty apostle of the Lord.

Love is much more powerful than hate, because love is of God and hate is of the devil. God is more powerful than the devil. Therefore love is more powerful than hate. We must make it our great quest in life to walk in love, not just as a theory or a doctrine, but in practice in our daily life. It is this kind of supernatural love that will bring the Church of Jesus Christ into her destiny. This love will motivate us to sacrifice our safety, comfort, and ease to tell others about Jesus. This love will compel us to have compassion for the lost, hurting, and dying of this world. It will even motivate us to have compassion on those who come against us. Then we will see the great manifestation of God in our homes, our churches, our communities, and all around the world.

This kind of love can only be appropriated as we wait upon the Lord in prayer. As we draw near to God and lay down our lives before Him, our hearts will be changed to become like His. His love and compassion will be birthed in us, and our lives will bring glory to Him. God so loved the world that He gave His Son. As we continue in that love and give ourselves as a living sacrifice, we will see multitudes coming to our heavenly Father to receive forgiveness and eternal life. We will see victory over the evil forces at work in our world. As the scripture says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21, KJV. It’s time to wage peace…not war.

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