Love One Another

Remember that day when you gave your life to Christ?  Think back on it.  What were the circumstances?  What was going on in your life at the time you called out to him?  We must remember where we come from.  Not to say we should dwell in our past, but to humbly keep in mind what brought us to our knees in the first place. Was it just a desperate time for you?  For a lot of people, it is.  It is a last resort.  A plea of “help me and I’ll serve you forever” kind of conversion that is forgotten once things seem better.

I know, I did that several times.  When my life felt like it was falling apart, I called out to Jesus.  I went to a church for a while, and when I felt like I could handle life again, I left.   I did not see my need to be grafted to him. Nor did I see my need to grow spiritually.   I lacked commitment, I got what I wanted and left. 

Convenience

Church was not a priority in my life.  I went when it was convenient.  You know,  Christmas and Easter. And then again when I was going through a rough patch.  I didn’t want to make friends with anyone in the church either. I figured that they, too, were there only when it was convenient for them. There were also those I thought of as plastic people. They hid behind facades of Sunday dresses and sing song voices. They made me cringe, because I was rough, and my dresses always seemed too tight around them. We could never be friends, I thought. I just wanted assurance from God that I was okay; so that when I stood before Him, I could say “I went to church!”  Not knowing that this isn’t enough.

God is calling

As time went on, I found I needed him more.  Not just in the times I was falling apart. God was showing up in my every day.  I begin to want my daughters to grow up knowing Jesus. Not the way I did, but to have a real relationship with Him. I wanted them to have a church home, a place to learn the Bible and to live a better life. It was important to me that they had a place where they could get married and raise their kids. Something I didn’t have in my life. I was finding that I wanted it for me too. God was calling me to church.

I also began to read the Bible and found I couldn’t put it down. The stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The life of Joseph. The incredible accounts of Ruth, Esther, and King David. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and His love for us. I was just taking it all in. Even the description of the tabernacle was fascinating to me. I cried and almost turned my heart away from God when I read about Abraham taking Isaac to sacrifice him. I just couldn’t believe that God would require such a thing. Putting my bible down, I had thoughts of not reading the rest. But I was encouraged to read on, and I am glad I did.

Getting into the word

I started digging deeper into what I was reading.  Like what was Jesus saying when he said in John 15 to love one another?  At first, I thought he was talking to a special group, you know, His disciples. But curiosity got me, and I researched the word disciple. Found out, I was in that group too. He was telling His disciples to love one another.   This is not the same as loving your neighbor.  Yes, love your neighbor.  I am not diminishing that here. Instead, I emphasize that He says to His disciples, to all of us who believe in Him, to love one another.  

Show up

God intentionally connects us with other believers so we can strengthen and encourage each other.  Love one another. In order to do that we first have to show up.  How do I love other disciples if I do not know them?  If I do not fellowship with them?  If I only went to church for my own needs, when it was convenient?   He said that they did not choose him, he chose them.  Wait. What?  Jesus is saying he chose me.  He chose you.  He chose his disciples. If he has chosen us then, loving each other should be easy. It should be easy to pray for one another and to bear each other’s burdens.

So why do we make this so hard? Just saying “I love you” to my sister in Christ because the Word tells me to, is just paying lip service and making me feel all righteous about doing what the Lord says.  It means nothing.  I love my dogs too.  And I tell them all the time.  But I also take care of them.  I feed them and make sure they feel secure.  I groom them and provide comfort for them.   How much more then, should I love my brothers and sisters in Christ?  

Guard our hearts

We must remember that Love is an action word.  Jesus tells us to actively love other believers.  We should know them enough to be able to work alongside them in this spiritual battle we call life.  We need to do our part to see to it that needs are met.  To love one another.  

John 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”

I should be able to pray, sincerely, for my fellow believers to help them carry their burdens to the Lord.  Rejoicing with them when things are good and providing a shoulder to lean on when things are hard.   I should also be able to rely on my fellow believers when I am in need.

Unfortunately, these scenarios are not the norm.   We Christians are quick to kick each other while we are down.   Maybe it’s because we forget where we came from.  We forget that we are not perfect and in need of a savior, every day.  That we need him daily.  We are all sinners and need the cross and washing by the blood every day.     

We need to guard ourselves against having a “holier-than-thou” mentality.  Otherwise, people who are just coming to know Christ will see us as plastic people and untouchable.  The same kind of people that I did not want to befriend in my early years of trying to live for Christ. 

Personal Story

A couple of years ago, I met a new believer in my church who had been attending for almost a year.  Some of the time was during the pandemic and our services were online.  Our church had been back to in-person meetings for at least six months at the point that I met her.   Still, she did not know anyone.  She had been coming to the services, sitting in the same area, and then leaving afterward alone.  She did not reach out to anyone, nor did anyone reach out to her.   A few prayed with her when she answered altar calls, but she did not know their names.  

It was during a prayer meeting that I met her.  She said she was drawn to me but did not know why.  We got to talking and I shared a part of my testimony with her.   Her eyes lit up when she said this was why she was led to me.  She was having problems with alcohol and needed to talk to someone about it.  She shared that every time she tried to talk about it, she felt she was being judged.  That people told her she just had to stop drinking and then proceeded to try to pray it out of her.  What she needed was someone who could understand what she was going through.  Someone to share that they too had experienced what she was going through and made it out on the other side.  That regardless of our sin of drinking too much alcohol, Jesus loves us.

She needed to hear practical advice too.  Like when I told her that after I had been saved awhile, I decided the best thing for me was to pour all of the remaining alcohol I had down the drain.  I kept it because I thought then, what if I changed my mind and wanted to drink some?  It was only a temptation to have it in the cabinet. 

I did not know that this was what she needed, but God did.  As I shared this part of my testimony my new friend’s eyes told me she was taking it in.  I found out later that she poured out her alcohol when she got home that night.  And she testified that she had been sober for a whole month!  Isn’t God good?  She needed a sister in Christ to lean on. 

Love, encourage, and strengthen

This is one reason why some new believers leave the church. There is no connection.  They feel like they do not belong.  That because of their sin they do not fit in.  We are all sinners!  God’s word says so.  You and I know this.  Why do we allow the enemy to rise and make us feel as though we are beyond that?  Why do we let the evil one cause our self-righteous eyebrows to raise up when someone with an addiction or other noticeable sin comes to our sacred holy ground?  

Not everyone knows what it is like to have an addiction, but if we remember that we are not perfect and have also fallen short, God will help us with retaining the fruit he gives us.   When we forget where we have come from, we can easily drive people out.  We become those that say they love but do not show it. 

Today let’s ask God to show us who He wants us to love and how He wants us to love them.   Let’s love, encourage, and strengthen the body of Christ. 

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_{What I’m reading now:  Ruth Chou Simons When Strivings Cease}