Love Without Boundaries - Day 190 Month 7-8 Week 28-1
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
1 Samuel 9:15-10:16, Proverbs 4:10-27, Lamentations 3:1-18, Acts 20:17-38
Love Without Boundaries
Today's topic does not directly relate to the reading of today.
You may have noticed that my writing often comes back to the same theme: love God and love your neighbour. I don't think that's simply my theme. I believe it is the theme Jesus taught throughout His life on earth, and His words remain just as relevant today.
As a Jesus follower, I celebrate whenever someone chooses to follow Jesus. When someone who was once strongly opposed to God becomes a believer, we celebrate not only their decision but also the way God's grace has changed their life. After the Watergate scandal in the United States, Chuck Colson became a well known Christian writer and speaker after finding faith while serving time in prison. Nicky Cruz was a gang leader in New York City who had committed violent crimes, yet after giving his life to Jesus he spent the rest of his life sharing a message of hope and grace.
None of us reaches perfection after becoming a Jesus follower. That won't happen until we are living in God’s kingdom. We all continue to fall short in different ways. Some failures seem small and others seem much larger, but we all need God's grace.
One thing that concerns me is that some churches can unintentionally treat certain sins as though they are worse than others. Most would say that all sin is equal before God, yet sometimes our actions tell a different story.
One area where this often becomes visible is in conversations about homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community. I'm not writing today to explain my personal views on that subject. Christians hold different convictions about what Scripture teaches, and there are churches that are affirming and churches that are not.
Last weekend was Pride Weekend in Annapolis Royal. As part of our desire to visit different churches in the area, Sylvia and I attended the local United Church. The United Church of Canada is probably the most affirming Christian denomination in Canada. What stood out to me was their emphasis on love. The service, the hymns, and the message all pointed toward God's love for us and our love for our neighbour. After the service we stayed for coffee and had a wonderful conversation with a gay couple.
One thing that concerns me is that some Jesus followers, particularly in more conservative churches, gradually lose most of their relationships with people outside the church. Their lives become centred almost entirely around church activities. Sometimes churches organize evangelism events, but afterward everyone simply returns to spending time with the same circle of friends. That makes me sad.
Sylvia and I have tried to be intentional about building friendships with people outside the church. We love our church family, but we have also grown to genuinely care about people who don't share all of our beliefs. Jesus said that people would recognize His followers by their love. He also taught that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbour. To me, that means loving the people in my church and loving everyone else as well.
If you are a Jesus follower and there is a group of people you find difficult to love, perhaps ask God to soften your heart. If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community and have been hurt by people of faith, I'm truly sorry for that. Please know there are many followers of Jesus who genuinely care about you and want to know you as a person. Whatever our differences, I hope we can always treat one another with kindness, dignity, and love.
Have a great day!
Steve
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