HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
2. Love Both Friend and Foe by Trusting in God and Hoping in His Promises
But how shall we attain a love that is strong enough to bless and pray for its enemies? The answer is given in Scripture (and this is the third level in the inner circle) is that trust in God and hope in his promises leads to love.
Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love.”
That is when we have strong faith in the goodness of God it inevitably works itself out in love.
Colossians 1:4, 5 says, “We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.”
In other words, when our hope is strong we are freed from fears and cares that prevent the free exercises of love. Therefore, a spiritual leader must be a person who has strong confidence in the sovereign goodness of God to work everything together for his good. Otherwise, he will inevitably fall into the trap of manipulating circumstances and exploiting people in order to secure for himself a happy future which he is not certain God will provide.
