Why Would Jesus Warn Us That ‘The Love of Many Will Grow Cold?’

I’ll never forget this one time I was driving in the car with Lisa. We were listening to some worship music, and she was literally in tears as she experienced God’s nearness. When she asked me why I wasn’t being moved in a similar way, I said, “I’m meditating.” But deep down, I knew something was off.

Without even realizing it, the love of God in my heart had begun to grow cold.

This was a wake-up call.

As I sought God on the matter, He began to reveal the bitterness that had taken root in me. Then He invited me into the long and arduous process of learning forgiveness. Immediately, the excuses came pouring in. God, You don’t know what he did to me. I’ll forgive him when he repents! But God wouldn’t let me go. He kept pressing me to forgive this man who had hurt me so deeply. Through much prayer and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, I eventually did. And I was set free.

Jesus told His disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come” (Luke 17:1 NKJV). You will be mistreated. You will be wronged. You will be misunderstood. You will be spoken of poorly. You will experience all kinds of injustices. Forgive anyway. Don’t give a place in your heart to any form of bitterness. Offense seeks to take you prisoner if you let it. Resist it. Don’t yield any ground to it. Don’t let the love of God in you grow cold.

Rather, may we allow God’s love to be shed abroad in our hearts. May we give it away as we have each received it—not because it’s deserved, but precisely because God loves and forgives us even when we least deserve it. That is the agape love we’ve received from Him, and that is the love He calls us to freely give away. In releasing those who have offended us—in forgiving them, in loving them, in praying for them and even seeking their good—we will find ourselves set free.

This article about how the love of many will grow cold originally appeared here.