Sometimes, I find making a list of to-do items very helpful in completing the day's tasks. While reducing a passage of the Scriptures to a to-do list can be dangerous, sometimes this discipline can open my eyes to what God truly wants me to do. In our time, the concept of love has become so confused and abstract, so sharing real love with others feels a bit elusive. Plus, so much that is called love today has unhinged our expressions of love from God's definitions of loving behavior. In cornbread English, God's kind of love should not make us enablers of sinful behaviors just so we can appear nice. Genuine love must be more than shared sweet sentiments that never lead to loving actions. God's style of love is never disguised as kind deeds and personal attention offered to control or manipulate another.
In today's verses about Christian love, Paul teaches us that God's way of loving one another involves:
- Genuine expressions of love and affection demonstrated in actions toward others.
- Hating what is wrong in others' lives while still loving them.
- Recognizing and appreciating the good in others as we fellowship with them and demonstrate love to them.
- Finding joyful delight in honoring others as a vital part of our Christian fellowship.
While sharing "likes" and "friending" people on social media can be important and encouraging to others, genuine, face-to-face fellowship and entering into a loving relationship with brothers and sisters in Christ are crucial. We must not let our love for others become artificial and involved only from a safe and detachable distance. Zoom meetings can be helpful during temporary separation by geographical and social distancing, but Christian love has to be based on both a physical and spiritual connection with real people. This kind of connection requires a personal investment in and sacrifices for another because of Jesus. Why? Because genuine relationships in Jesus are rooted in a host of "one anothering" behaviors — loving actions that involve up-close and personal attention, care, affirmation, sacrifice, and kindness.[1]
[1] See the excellent summary in "The 59 One Anothers of the Bible" and the very helpful infographic of one another passages.
O Father, please teach me to love others as Jesus does and as the Holy Spirit empowers me to love. I yearn for my affection for my brothers and sisters in Christ to be genuine, healthy, and helpful. I long for my love for unbelievers to be genuine, healthy, and redemptive. Please, O, Lord, the Eternal, help me love others more and love them in ways that reflect Your love. Amen.
