I opened another piece of mail, to read and pray over, and three hand written words caught my eye and immediately a thought compelled me to stop and write this. Those words were "Love is sacrifice"!
The fruit of the Spirit is love, but the characteristics of that love is "joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV). It is that love that enables Christians in the Middle East to love Muslims and reach out to them at every opportunity, in spite of the cost; this love enables pastors in India to be beaten by radical Hindus and then invite Hindus to follow Jesus; this love enables believers in China to boldly share the love of Jesus with prison guards and even government officials.
Love is sacrifice, but it is that love that enables the one being persecuted to also benefit from its empowering strengths.
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