IF WE ALL HAD LOVED
If we had truly loved, we would not be so divided. The many voices, the many names, the many parties that fill the religious world do not arise from the fullness of Christ, but from the poverty of our love. For the Word of God calls us into something deeper than agreement in outward form; it calls us into a life hidden in Christ, where love becomes the ruling power of the soul. Where that love reigns, it does not seek to exalt self, nor to draw lines where Christ has drawn none, but to gather all into the unity of the Spirit.
It is not that truth is unimportant. Truth is the very light of God, and without it we walk in darkness (John 17:17; Psalm 119:105). Yet truth held without love becomes a hard and lifeless thing, something that divides rather than heals. The apostle speaks plainly, that though one may understand all mysteries and possess all knowledge, yet without love, he is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2-3). How often has doctrine been wielded not as a lamp to guide, but as a weapon to wound. And in such moments, even when the words are right, the spirit is not of Christ.
If we had loved as He loved, we would not be eager to contend, but to understand; not quick to condemn, but ready to restore (Galatians 6:1-2; James 1:19-20). Love does not mean the abandoning of conviction, but the sanctifying of it. It brings the heart low before God, teaching it to speak with gentleness and to listen with patience. For the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all, able to teach, patient in humility (2 Timothy 2:24-25). Where this spirit prevails, divisions lose their strength, and the desire to be right gives way to the deeper desire to be Christlike.
There is also the danger of receiving as binding what God has not bound. When love is absent, the conscience becomes narrow, and human judgment begins to take the place of divine authority. Yet the Bible warns us not to judge one another in matters where the Lord has granted liberty, but to receive one another as Christ also received us (Romans 14:1-4; Romans 15:7). Love recognizes the difference between what is essential and what is not. It holds firmly to the gospel, yet leaves room where God has left room, trusting that He alone is the judge of the heart.
The unity for which Christ prayed was not a unity of outward uniformity, but of inward life, that His people might be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:20-21). This unity is not achieved by human effort alone, nor by organizing ourselves into agreement, but by abiding in Him. As each believer yields more fully to Christ, the same life begins to flow through all, and love becomes the natural expression of that life (John 15:4-5; Ephesians 4:2-3). It is here, in the secret place of communion, that divisions are healed at their root.
And so the call returns to us, not first to correct others, but to examine our own hearts. Have we loved as He commanded? Have we borne with one another in patience, seeking not our own, but the good of all (Philippians 2:3-4)? For it is only as love is perfected in us that the witness of the Church will be restored. The world will not be persuaded by our arguments alone, but by the sight of a people who truly love one another in Christ.
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Lord, teach us the way of love. Deliver us from pride and from the spirit that seeks to divide. Fill our hearts with the life of Christ, that we may walk in humility, patience, and grace. Help us to hold fast to Your truth, yet always in love, that Your people may be one, and that the world may know that You have sent Your Son. Amen.
BDD
