Show me the love!

In my devotions today I was struck by the following question; "Do you have relationships with other believers that would enable you to say with Paul (in his epistle to Philemon) that you would be sending away your 'heart' if you were to move or otherwise lose the chance for face-to-face fellowship?" This is the kind of love we are to have for one another, a kind that if we were to lose or send away a person in our congregation, we feel as though we have lost our friend, that we would miss them greatly. All too often with some, we breathe a sigh of relief rather than one of sincere and profound loss. Sometimes it is only a passing observance that a person or family has left, and unfortunately most often (in my opinion) we don't even notice. It all comes down to community.

If we truly live in community with one another, we get to know and understand where each other are, where we struggle, and where we excel. We can pick one another up, and at times, be disciplined by those that know us best. We are to live out our Christian lives with a sincere sense of family. This is both good and bad, as anyone with a large family knows. You may not like your family, but you know them and love them (or at least you should!) The same goes with your church family. It is much more difficult to point your finger and look down your nose at others when you know them well, when you know their struggles and their strengths. You feel much more comfortable approaching a person you love to correct them than you do a 'stranger', don't you?

When I think back to those that have left our congregation that affected me the most, I think of my pastor B.S. His departure left a hole in me that was significant. My 'heart' went with him, and this is hard. The good news is that I recognized that I loved him as we are called by Jesus to love. The bad news is that I also recognized how little this happens in my life when others leave, meaning I did not love them as Christ calls us to love.

How will this recognition affect my walk? I pray the Lord helps me to love others as much as I should, and not just the ones that I like, but for those that I get most annoyed at, and I pray that others will have patience with me as I know I can rub others the wrong way.