#82 LET US LOVE EACH OTHER 9-4-26
There is enough criticism in the world without Christians adding to it. There is enough tearing down without us becoming experts at finding faults in one another. The church ought to be a place where people discover that they are loved, valued, encouraged, and wanted. Let us love each other. Let us lift each other. Let us like each other as much as possible.
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. As I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). Christianity is not merely believing the right things. It is learning to treat people with the same mercy we have received from Christ. We will never love perfectly, but we can love intentionally. We can choose kindness when criticism would be easier.
LET US LOVE EACH OTHER. Love does not mean that we approve of everything another person does. Love tells the truth, but it tells the truth with tears instead of stones. “Love suffers long and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Sometimes the greatest ministry we can give someone is simply letting them know, “I am glad you are here. You matter to God, and you matter to me.”
LET US LIFT EACH OTHER. Everybody carries something. Some people carry burdens that nobody else can see. A word of encouragement may be small to us but enormous to someone who is struggling. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). We should not be looking for opportunities to make people feel small. We should be looking for opportunities to help them stand tall.
LET US LIKE EACH OTHER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Sometimes we act as though loving our brothers and sisters is a command, but actually enjoying their company is optional. Yet the early church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship” (Acts 2:42). Fellowship means more than sitting in the same building. It means sharing life together. We will not agree on everything. We will not have the same personalities, preferences, or backgrounds. But we can still enjoy one another, laugh together, pray together, serve together, and walk together.
“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10). What a beautiful picture of the church. Instead of asking, “Why doesn’t everybody appreciate me?” we can ask, “Whom can I appreciate today?” Instead of waiting for somebody to encourage us, we can become the encourager. Instead of wondering who is going to lift us, we can lift somebody else.
The church does not need more people competing for attention. It needs people giving attention. It does not need more people searching for faults. It needs people searching for opportunities to help. “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We may forget many sermons, but we may never forget the person who believed in us when we were struggling to believe in ourselves.
Let us be people who make Christianity beautiful by the way we treat one another. Let us love each other when we agree and when we disagree. Let us lift the fallen, strengthen the weak, encourage the discouraged, forgive the repentant, and rejoice when somebody else succeeds. And as much as it depends upon us, let us like each other, enjoy each other, and thank God for each other.
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Lord, teach us to love one another as You have loved us. Give us eyes to see the burdens people carry, hearts that want to encourage, hands that are ready to help, and words that build rather than destroy. Make us a people who leave others stronger, happier, and closer to Christ because we have crossed their path. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
BDD
