Loving others is one of the primary commands of a Christian.  Does that mean that we are to love everything about others?  No, there are many characteristics of man that even God does not love.  Pride, for example, is something that God despises (1 Peter 5:5). 

What God does love is the souls of men, and the souls of others should be an object of our affection as well.  Do you love the souls of others?  Here is how we can know whether we do or do not.

If we love the souls of others, we will view them from the inside out.  In other words, we will be more concerned about the condition of their souls than we are their outward appearances.  When you look at those around you, what do you see?  Do you see beauty, race, or riches?  If you love souls, the first thing you are concerned about when you view those around you is the condition of their souls.  You realize that whether they are right with God is far more important than what they look like.

One of the dumbest characteristics that a person can have is racism.  When a person concludes that someone is inferior, or even worse, not valuable, because of the color of his or her skin, that person is showing his ignorance of the fact that we are all related to each other.  Paul told the Athenians that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26).  Furthermore, and much more importantly, when a person does not like someone else simply because of their ethnicity, he is showing that he does not love souls.

Every person you ever come into contact with has a soul.  That soul will spend eternity either in heaven or hell, and that is something about which you should care deeply.  God does! 

Hebrews 2:9 (ESV)
⁹  But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For whom did Jesus die?  The Bible says, EVERYONE!  Why?  Because God loves everyone and does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9).  He cares about every soul, and we should as well.

There is something else we will do if we love the souls of others—we will preach the gospel to those who are lost whenever we can.  Since God wants everyone to be saved, He wants us to teach as many as we can.

Mark 16:15-16 (ESV)
¹⁵  And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 

There should be no one to whom we will not preach the gospel.  If we love souls, we will not be able to keep the gospel to ourselves.  We will realize that if we do not tell others about Jesus, they will not hear the Word, and, therefore, will never believe in Him and have the opportunity to be saved (Romans 10:14).  Let us prove that we love souls by spreading the good news whenever and to whomever we can.       

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.