Understanding and expressing God's love sounds easy. How hard can it be to love? How hard can it be to persevere? Not as easy as you would think, but definitely worth it in the end.
A parent has the capacity to understand God's love because generally they possess that ability on a smaller scale. When you are a parent, you love your child unconditionally (well, most do). There isn't anything that they could do to stop you from loving them, wanting to protect them and shelter them, or give them what they need and want. Even in the face of death, many of us would gladly step in front of that bullet to save their lives. We cry for them when they are hurt, we hurt for them when they fail, but we fail to stop loving them because they've made a mistake or go against everything we've ever taught them (again, most of us). There are those who cannot forgive or understand, especially if they believe their child has "thrown them under the bus".
In order to love as God loves, and persevere as Christ did - we have to understand the complexity surrounding that love and perseverance. Every day we struggle against the enemy. Our main defense is prayer that God will protect us and make us strong (the Armour of God). We pray for strength and help, we learn scripture and rely on it in times of struggle, we associate with truthful people and we practice what we are taught by our spiritual leaders (hence the need to have godly people and well-versed preachers in our lives).
We all endure some form of persecution (be it bullying, criticism, or ridicule) at different times throughout our lives. Christ endured the most hideous form of persecution, yet he went to the cross and redeemed each and every one of us! He not only gave us an example of patience, but an undeniable example of love!
Let the Holy Spirit direct your hearts...
