Coming Together

Love, in it's truest sense, is not prideful. The very act of love means to put something/someone above ourselves.

Telling myself this never makes it any easier. My pride can get pretty enlarged at times. My "love" towards other people can start to look very shallow and unfeeling if I forget that it is not I who has the capability to love. Here's the thing, I am human. This means everything I think and feel is selfish. I want everything to be about me and for me. I cannot demand myself to love people. It doesn't work that way. Yes, God "commanded" us to love one another, but He also blessed us with the ability to choose whether we do so or not.

The hard part is not loving, because we all say "well I love everyone...because God told me to." The hardest part, to me at least, would be showing pure love. Love that really DOES care; love that desires to help; love that can have compassion.

On the other side of love, we also have something that is desperately needed to balance everything out. This part would be standing up for what is right. This is a very tricky thing, and where I often fall short.

See, most Christians these days are either overly judgmental with no love, or all about love with no deep convictions. We will either love people no matter what their poor/sinful lifestyle is and think love is all that's needed to win them to Christ, and we simply spend our time pointing our fingers at other peoples sins, flaws, mistakes and anything else that isn't just like our life. The difficulty we find here is that we are not Jesus. We do not have the authority to point our finger at other people. Sorry, you aren't the ultimate judge.

My parents put it in a way that made perfect sense.

As Christians, we are called to love people no matter their past, present of how sinful they have decided to live their life. But at some point in building a relationship with the lost, it can no longer be called loving when you allow them to continue living in sin. "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2 NASB)

Jesus was our perfect example. the bible says God is love. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:7-8 NASB)
However, He is also righteous and just. He loves in SPITE of our sins and wrong doings, but BECAUSE of that love, He doesn't allow us to continue in sin. (Romans 6:1)

If all we do is judge, nobody in their right mind will ever desire to have what we have. But if all we do is show love without teaching God's word, we are simply loving those people right into hell; that is not loving at all.

If we tell others of His love without telling of His righteousness or tell of His righteousness without His love, we will accomplish nothing at all.

Jesus is who we are called to follow. Not some scholar, peace make, legendary preacher or "wise author." Jesus loved the women at the well, but pointed out her sin in kindness.

This is our example. We cannot pick a side and expect to make a difference. You cannot have one without the other, or there will be no progress and we will not make a difference in the lives of other people.