Love Your Neighbor–Including Other Christians
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In response to my post, Love Your Neighbor–An Impossible Command, Jennifer wrote, “You’ve put my thoughts exactly into words that make sense. Experiencing some recent hurts (within church, no less) and it IS hard…yet we are commanded to LOVE. This seems to be one of the biggest challenges… to love despite the hurt.”
Jennifer, I’m sorry you have been hurt by people in the church. Unfortunately, it is a common phenomenon. I have friends who used to be actively involved in their church. They took on leadership roles. They gave sacrificially of their resources. They volunteered in ways that best used their gifts. Then other Christians in the church, those they counted as friends, did or said things that hurt. My friends stopped attending. Currently, they attend another church, but are still quite gun shy and have resisted the invitation to get involved in their new church. I’m not talking here about Christian people who have simply had their feelings hurt. I’m talking about real damage that unthinking, unloving Christians perpetrated upon them.
This story has been played out repeatedly in thousands of Christians lives. There are un-numbered Christians who continue to love God but have difficulty connecting with other Christians because of the damage that has been done in the past. I am one of those Christians. I am recovering from damage done to me and my family by fellow believers. Every week I must make the conscious choice to connect with other Christians in worship. It would be much easier for me to simply stay home on Sunday wallowing in my pain and the injustices against me.
In the early days of the Church, Christians didn’t get along any better than they do today. Repeatedly, Paul, Peter, and John had to remind Church members to love each other, care about one another, and share with one another. Unfortunately, the Church is imperfect because the people are imperfect. That is the very reason we must love. Love is the only way to bring unity to a group of people who are hateful to each other. It is the only way to make a difference in lives that stumble along imperfectly.
When we love in return for the abuse perpetrated against us, we are seeing in others the possibilities God sees in them. We are creating a culture of love that should be at the core of every church. I’ve been hurt as others have. Despite that hurt, I am called to love, to extend my hand of care to those who have slapped my face. I have been called to bring peace to the body of Christ. It is easier for me to do this when I focus on the power of love to heal rather than on my own hurt that breeds anger or hatred.
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Thank you for gently reminding me to look at others with Christ’s eyes… not with my own.