Liking people or not liking them is all about our feelings, while loving people is in spite of those same feelings. That means that like is a matter of the soul, while love is a matter of the spirit. For if our soul is our personality; our mind, will and emotions, we are governed in it by the self and the self alone. And, if love is all about what God is doing in our spirit, and He can enable us to do what is impossible to our soul, then we can plainly see that love is governed by God and God alone.

We all know people that we like, but are not interested romantically or it’s an acquaintance that we like, but have not found that we feel love for them. When we leave it up to our hearts, we find these restrictions and limitations; keeping us from the love God Commands. But with God this problem only exits if we get in our own way and do not allow God to work. This is also because love is all about caring about everyone, and caring about everyone does not require liking everyone, but we can find in Christ Jesus, that we do come to love everyone, even strangers; we find ourselves caring about what happens to them and feel a desire to help them in their troubles and cheer them in their woes.

It is possible to love someone without necessarily liking that person, just as it is possible to like someone without necessarily loving that person. To love does not require like, and to like does not require love. It’s so interesting to see these as two different emotions. And much more importantly, we who love the Lord are capable of loving the unlovable, as we read in Luke 6:32-33:

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”

Through this verse, Jesus clearly tells us that we are commanded to love the unlovable; those we dislike and those we find difficult to be around. Therefore, that must mean that loving others does not require liking them.

Moreover, Jesus even said we are commanded to love our enemies:

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.” (Luke 6:27-29)

Once again, if we are commanded to love our enemies, we must be able with the Holy Spirit’s abiding, to love those whom we do not like and Jesus would never command us to do something without first giving us the ability to carry it out:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2Corinthinas 5:17)

And when we fight against what God is wanting to do in us, we grieve the Holy Spirit:

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”  (Ephesians 4:30-32)

Moreover, John 14:17 tells us that the worldly cannot receive His Spirit of truth:

“the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17)

The Holy Spirit provides us with His enabling powers so that we may please and obey our Lord God:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26)

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit intercedes with the Father on our behalf:

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

Most of all, we are commanded to love others as we love ourselves; something in which we could never do on our own, but with God we are made able!:

“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:18)

“Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

And, as we hopefully notice, this ‘love’ in which we are commanded to abide in does not carry any stipulations with it; we love all people regardless of our feelings if we are in Christ JESUS!

NKJV

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Linzy is a certified Bible Counsellor, with countless republications on her viewers blogs, Bible Studies, Ezines and the like. Her portfolio includes, non-fiction articles, short stories for all ages, and Christian poetry.