Love One Another

John 13:34-35 "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."

         I have a list of movies that make up my pre-Christmas Day must watch list. Some of the movies are classics, some at contemporary. The Hallmark network is running a series of Christmas themed movies. Some have been added to my list of Christmas favorites. And some are just not making that list. One theme that runs through a good Christmas movie is the hope that is in Christmas. Miracles happen in many of the Christmas movies. But none of the miracles envisioned by the movie screenwriters comes close to the miracle of the birth of the Christ Child.

         One of the most interesting aspects to the ruckus created by the Phil Robertson controversy is a statement attributed to Phil Robertson. “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear of hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.” Our world today has bought into these two lies and seems incapable of accepting that there can be a difference of opinion and a civil dialogue resulting in agreeing to disagree. You are considered unloving if you do not accept the principles of others as valid and right. How unfortunate for our society. The truth, the real truth, is that while we do not agree with the choice of living a life devoted to sin we still love the person. We as Christians embrace the sinner, but not the sin. If we fail to embrace the sinner, we are missing one of the biggest lessons from Christ. His command from John 13:34-35 transcends loving others as we love ourselves. "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 new command raises the bar to a new and higher level.  We are given the love Christ shows to us as our new standard. We who are slow to change, quick to condemn, and hesitant to love have a challenge. Jesus is a polar opposite. He loves us in spite of ourselves. We are not asked to compromise our convictions by loving someone we disagree with. We keep loving the sinner, just as God loves us. To do otherwise is disingenuous and does not honor Christ. We share the Gospel in the fervent hope that the sinner will chose to repent and turn away from their old life. We do this because we have chosen to walk in the light and wish all mankind to be in the light with us. That is what love is all about. It’s called Real Love.

PRAYER: Father, we frequently find ourselves at odds with the world around us. We who chose to walk in the light are often ridiculed and called unloving. Help us Father with the right words at the right time to be loving. Give us through Your Holy Spirit the faith and conviction to love in words and deeds. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.