Monday; February 27

How important is love in Christianity? Paul advocated that love superseded faith and hope in a Christian trilogy (I Corinthians 13:13). Jesus would declare that love would be what would distinguish His disciples from the rest of the world (John 13:35). Yet maybe the most compelling argument for the presence of Christian love is John’s comment, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” (I John 4:20-21). Folks, there is overwhelming evidence that if we profess that Jesus is our Lord, we have to love our fellow man. There is no room for “ifs”, “ands” or “buts”. No excuses. We have to love one another to be pleasing to Jesus.

As I thought about this foundational principle of Christianity, I was reminded of Jesus’ observation, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13); but I also thought about a very simple concept, do we love people enough to live in harmony with them? Sure, a love genuine enough to die for someone is special, but a love that allows us to live with people is what we need today more than ever. Let’s make it a point to love each other – when we do that, people will take us and our religion seriously.

Think About It!

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