Just Love Them

 

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:12-14

Years ago I heard a pastor say, “if you see a 'therefore' in Scripture, find out what it's there for.” I believe that is very true of the verses above and would advise that you also read verses 1-11. For now, let me just say, we're all guilty of the behaviors listed in those verses. We're not all guilty of all of them but we are all guilty of some of them. The point being, that before we judge and accuse our brothers and sisters we want to take a long look in a clear mirror.

There is so much hate in the world now and here in the good old USA we are so very guilty of promoting it. Name a group of people, a lifestyle, a belief system and stand back and watch the sparks fly. I personally avoid the news because it's all bad and inflammatory but avoiding it does not mean that I can escape it. The words, “did you see the headline about...” strike misery to my body because I know that the next several minutes of my life are going to be filled with the sound of dissension.

We joke about the old cliché, “can't we all just get along?” But, can't we? We who call ourselves Christian are called to love. We are called, tasked, to bring others to Christ. It is not my imagination or my idea. Jesus said it in Matthew 28:19 as clearly as he possibly could. There is no wiggle room. “Go and make disciples of all nations.” He did not say, “go and make disciples out of the people who seem pretty much ready to agree with you anyway.”

When we go and take the gospel into the world we are most certainly going to meet resistance. When we read or listen to the news we are most certainly going to encounter people and behaviors that we find abhorrent. It isn't easy. It wasn't supposed to be easy. It is, however what Jesus, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, told us to do.

All of my life I've heard, “hate the sin but love the sinner.” That sometimes feels impossible. Sometimes it's easy. I do love the person, regardless but more often it is very hard. The other day in a message about grace, love, drawing people to Christ, our pastor said, “Don't worry about their sin. Just love them.” My first thought was, “Right, because I have enough sin of my own to repent. I don't need to take on someone else's sin.”

Then, I really heard what he was saying. “Don't worry about their sin. Just love them.” Just love them. The sin is their issue with God. The love is my response to God's love for me. To sit back and judge, to point fingers, call names, assign labels, will only make me bitter, angry, and sometimes, ill. It will most certainly distance me from the pure love of my Father.

It sounds simple but it is so very hard, choose love. Choose grace. Don't let another person's sin become your sin. Hate the sin, pray for the sinners and just love them.