John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.

We need to take a very careful look at the first phrase in this verse. It tells us that “God loved the world”. Remember, “world” refers to a system inspired by Satan and run by people committed to opposing the Kingdom of God. So God sacrificed Himself for the benefit of people who opposed Him. It’s easy to love people that love you back. It’s not so easy to show love for people who are not showing love for you. That’s the greatest way we imitate Christ!

The other phrase I would point out here is “everyone who believes in Him”. We’re not talking simply acknowledging the truth about Christ. We’re talking about committing ourselves to live in such a way that shows we believe. We can say we believe many things, but until our actions prove our words to be true they’re just words.

The challenge is two-fold; first, do we only love those who love us? If so, that’s not a Christ-like love. Second, Is our declaration of belief in Christ backed up by action? If not, they’re just the words of a person with a dead faith. A dead faith will not produce eternal life. Think about it.