Let's talk about love and how we show up as followers of Christ.
John 13:34-35 states,"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
This is one of the greatest commandments in Bible (the first being to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind… Matthew 22:37), yet it seems to be the hardest to keep, especially in the LGBT community where “shade” is as common place as the occurrence of churches per block in Brooklyn. We find it next to impossible to love without condition. We love folk until they piss us off. We love them until they hurt our feelings. We love them until they do or say something we do not agree with. We simply cannot separate the “action” from the person. We stop talking to them. Avoid them at every turn, talk about them like a dog to other people…the list goes on. I can talk about it because I've done it myself! It isn't right, but it is real.
Let us ponder for a moment. What would happen if God defined love how we do? What if He decided that He was just fed up with our turning our back on Him, tired of us living outside of His Will? What if God decided that He had just had it “up to here” with our mess? Our lying? Our cheating? Our gossiping? Our disobedience? Our not being of service to others? Our hurting His people? What if the God of “another chance” decided not to give us anymore? Where would we be? I shudder at the thought.
The second part of the verse says “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…” Our ability or inability to love our sisters and brothers as our Father does is precisely how we show up in the world! If we say we are a Christian, then we should emulate Christ, in other words, we should strive to “equal or surpass” what He has done. We may be the only “Jesus” someone gets to see; what example are we setting by acting in an unloving way towards others? We are being watched, folks. From the minute we say we are a believer people begin to observe our every move, from the pulpit to the back pew. Not only do they watch us, they also talk about what they see. Therefore, would behoove us to ensure that we are not representing Christ falsely.
I am so glad that we serve a God that loves without condition. Despite ourselves He has continued to provide for our every need. He has continued to open doors no man could open and close doors no man can shut. He protects us from dangers seen and unseen. He has continued to keep every promise He has ever made to us. He continues to seek after us even when we run away from Him. Today, let us make a conscious effort to follow God’s lead in the area of love. It is not enough to say that we love someone; our actions have to prove it. God proved it first by sending His Son, and He continues to prove it every day. The next time someone hurts your feelings, does something to upset you, operates differently than how you would expect, etc, take it to God. Pray for patience and understanding for yourself, and most of all, pray that His perfect Will be done in that person’s life.
Until next time Whosoevers, be blessed!
Sue
