Loving is a way of life...

I'm volunteering at a church in Rhode Island and enjoying it very much.  I've been meeting with a group women weekly for study, prayer and support.  In these last seven months, we have grown in friendship and in faith.  We have read books and scripture together.  We have shared our joys and sorrows.  We have laughed and we have cried.  Our time together is valued and valuable.  We are sisters together in Christ.

Someone from the congregation told me our study titles sounded like a self-help section at the local book store.  I'm not sure if it was meant to be a compliment, but after thinking about it, I have decided that I will take it as a one.  You see, I think that we can study scripture all day and night, but if we can't figure out how to apply it to the way we live, it's just an intellectual exercise.  The pastoral letters are good about teaching theology and practice.  Paul was especially adept at challenging wayward behavior, and then showing the people a better way to live out their faith.

Today our class looked at a small passage from I John 4: 7-16.  I thought that it was especially helpful in light of the sweeping events of the last few days. How do you love in a world that is riddled with conflict, disagreement and hatred and war.  This is what I learned:

1. Loving others is a reflection of the way that we love God.  If we don't love others, then we are not living our the love or our lives the way that God wants us to live.
2. Loving others means looking at others through God's eyes.  That means putting the name of the most difficult or hated person you know in this sentence: "Whoever does not love _______ does not know God, because God is love."  This takes love to a whole new level.  How can we do this?  The simple answer is that we cannot do this by ourselves .
3. Loving others puts our love of God to the test.  This is the place where growth happens...  where prayer and scripture and Christian friendship help us to look past our own needs and wants and to the needs and wants of others.  This kind of love brings to bear all the difficult choices, like learning to love even when we disagree, and compromise in the midst of difficult choices.  It means accepting people where they are and hopefully loving them to a new place, and hoping they will do the same for us.

As a Christian, I have realized that I can not do this alone.  I need the tools of faith to help me to grow.  I need to be faithful in prayer and worship, in study and practice, to do the easy thing and the hard thing.  I need friends who will support and challenge and correct me when I need it.  I need to learn not just to trust that God has me in the palm of his hand, but also my enemy.  God is big enough to hold and love us all.  Who knows what joy is in store for us if we will only put love at the top of our to-do list every day?

I know that loving God has changed me.  I have seen it also change others.  What kind of world would this be if we all trusted that love will bring us together, even if we don't all look and act and live alike?  May God's grace fill me and help me to go on to perfection every day in every way.  And may we grow in faith together, loving God and one another more each day, even when it is the most difficult thing we have thought we could never do.

This quote is attributed to John Wesley, but even if he didn't say it just like this, it works for me: 

       “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Peace, Deb

Thanks to Christianity Today for publishing the study entitled, "Getting Along With People," downloadable from their website.