{"id":85997,"date":"2025-03-24T09:04:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=85997"},"modified":"2025-03-24T09:04:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:04:43","slug":"seven-reasons-to-love-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/seven-reasons-to-love-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Reasons to Love Others"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Perry Hall<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. God commands it. “Because God said so” must be good enough to obey. But we want more, don’t we? Maybe we should need more reasons!<\/li>\n
  2. It imitates God. That is the highest motivation. God loved us while we were His enemies (Romans 5:8-10).<\/li>\n
  3. It helps others (Romans 12:20-21). Just because we do not like someone does not mean we should wish them harm, even if we sometimes hate them emotionally.<\/li>\n
  4. The best way to learn to like someone is to love them.<\/li>\n
  5. Loving others protects us. Did you ever wonder if the command not to take vengeance because vengeance is God’s and that instead, we must do good to our enemies might be for our own good too? By doing so, we are not allowing ourselves to be conquered by evil (Romans 12:21). By doing so, we also become changed. So, if you don’t like someone, start loving them. Do good for them until you like them.<\/li>\n
  6. It teaches others to love and like us, and who doesn’t want to be loved and liked?<\/li>\n
  7. It leads others to Christ; that is how God leads us to salvation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Perry Hall God commands it. “Because God said so” must be good enough to obey. But we want more, don’t we? Maybe we should need more reasons! It imitates God. That is the highest motivation. God loved us while we were His enemies (Romans 5:8-10). It helps others (Romans 12:20-21). Just because we do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-85997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92849,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/avenge-our-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":85997,"position":0},"title":"Avenge Our Blood","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Hurst via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 2, June 1993 Vengeance is a greatly misunderstood subject in the Bible. Our understanding of the word is described with words such as retaliate and punish. Most of us view it as an undesirable trait. We fight feelings that desire to see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-war-different-from-acts-of-retaliation\/","url_meta":{"origin":85997,"position":1},"title":"How is war different from acts of retaliation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read \"Is there any biblical support for war?\"\u00a0 but I don't understand how it fits with\u00a0Matthew 5:38-42 and Luke 6:27-31. Answer: \"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4364,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/action-and-reaction\/","url_meta":{"origin":85997,"position":2},"title":"Actions and Reactions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 6:20-36 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How should you act? How should you react? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We live in a \u201cme first\u201d age. People demand their rights. They seek to get even when wronged. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But let me tell you about a radical view of life II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Actions - Luke 6:27-28 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20662,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-separate-a-man-from-his-deeds-hating-his-sins-while-loving-his-soul\/","url_meta":{"origin":85997,"position":3},"title":"Should we separate a man from his deeds, hating his sins while loving his soul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding the love of God for man: I believe that God can separate the man from\u00a0sin.\u00a0 Therefore, God can love the man, but hate the sin.\u00a0 Do you agree with this?\u00a0 Are there scriptures that indicate this? Where Jesus tells us to love your enemies\u00a0in Matthew 5, I believe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/retaliation\/","url_meta":{"origin":85997,"position":4},"title":"Retaliation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Romans 12:17-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When someone strikes you, what is the first impulse? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why, to strike back \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It has been with us since childhood. \u201cI\u2019ll get even!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Therein is the core. We want to strike back because we feel justice has not be carried out \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But I\u2019ve noticed that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91596,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/love-your-neighbor-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":85997,"position":5},"title":"Love Your Neighbor (Moyer)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Jesus taught that the two greatest commandments are first, to love God with all the heart, soul, strength, and might, and second, to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). These commandments are the basis for everything else God commands. It's not hard to see in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}