A Steady Stream of Love
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
Nothing is a more compelling witness than the love and unity that Christians exhibit toward each other, and nothing is more disturbing or disruptive to the unity of the body than Christians who are stirred up against each other and experiencing strife. Nothing is a poorer witness.
Don’t think the unsaved aren’t watching when we bash our brothers and smash our sisters! They love it when we can’t get along with each other. It makes news. They love to quote one Christian who is after another Christian. It’s as if the journalist or pundit leans back and says, “Aha! Gotcha!”
What is Christ like? He is characterized by love and forgiveness. An insightful person once said, “We are most like beasts when we kill. We are most like men when we judge. We are most like God when we forgive.”
I have never met a person who didn’t have a reason to blame someone else. Every one of us can blame somebody for something that has happened in our lives. But don’t waste your time. What we need most is a steady stream of love flowing among us. Love that quickly forgives and willingly overlooks and refuses to take offense.
Some people are so easy to love that you just naturally fall into their arms. But others are so hard to love, you have to work overtime at it. There’s something about their natures that’s abrasive and irritating. Some are the opposite of magnets. They repel. Yet even they need our love, perhaps more than the others. How very important that we “stretch fervently” to love each other.
Taken from Hope Again by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1996 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
