LOVING OTHERS
I John 2:9 If anyone says, “I am living in the light,” but hates a
Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. NLT
It is not possible to
love the Lord and not love His children. Let us stop for a moment and
think about this. Think about those who are a part of the church that you
have strong disagreements with because they don’t believe as you do.
Think about how you feel about them. It’s easy to sit back and judge them
because they don’t see “the light” in the same way you do. It is easy to
question whether or not they are even saved. We develop strong feelings
about those who are not walking in the light as we are walking in the light.
Yet, the Word teaches
us that if we are living in the light, we will embrace all who are believers in
Christ. We may not understand their thinking or approve of their living,
but that doesn’t get us off the hook. Our responsibility before God is to
love all those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t
always know for sure who are saved, but it really doesn’t matter. We are
to be channels of God’s love to the Church and world. Godly love should
define who we are. It should be evident in all we do and say. We
are to live out godly love and let the Lord deal with the rest. God is
love and as His children, we inherit His love.
If we let our
differences alienate ourselves from other parts of the body of Christ, we are
living in darkness and not the light. Something to think about as you
think about your attitude towards those who you don’t know or understand within
the body of Christ. And, it's something
to think about when you consider your attitude and feelings towards those
within the Church who you have problems with, those who may have wronged you
and caused you grief and pain. To love
God is to love others. Godly love is not
selective love; we are to be vessels of love to all because God loves us and
everyone else, too.
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