"dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. and this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. and this is how we know that he lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us."
foundation of what it means to follow God's command -- believe in the name of Jesus and to love one another... i know myself, i fall short on both of these two little things multiple times a day, and yet they are simple things... both containing power, both being controversial and against the grain of society, both worth dying for, both worth living for...
the dirty history of the church has too often focused on the first bit and forgotten the latter... as followers, we are called to love one another, acting out in love as motivated and urged by the Spirit.. you know the feeling, i know it... that little lurch in your stomach to do something a bit unusual but helpful for someone you don't know, you don't even like maybe... the little voice in your head that tells you to say something, stop talking, choose your words wisely, or just to shut up... the wonder in your heart that thrills at the small variations in people, that makes us all unique and different and therefore a facet of the glimmering diamond in God's eye...
love allows us to not let the differences get in the way of knowing we all are loved the same... we don't have to understand all of the different ways of living, languages, cultures, traditions, musical preferences, style of dress... we can accept and love it because God loves it... He made it...
so why is it so hard? why is it easier to give into fear and self-absorbed living and exclusions and forcible conversion? why is it so difficult to love?
maybe it's simply too powerful, too powerful to effectively encapsulate in a human being? is it a testament to the Godly nature of it that we just can't handle it all the time and have to act otherwise?
still have to try... but I'm sorry for when I fail... but I will keep trying...
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