Love One Another

In the gospel of John 13:34, Jesus gives his disciples a commandment – to love each other. But in our modern culture with its many variations and interpretations on what love is, how can we know what Jesus meant?

I was praying today and God brought to my mind the passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, a well-known and favourite passage from the bible about love. This scripture is a part of many weddings; in fact my wife and I have a large candle from our wedding day that has this passage of scripture on it.

Yet I began to wonder how true this description would be of our church. Would people really describe us in that way? Can I honestly say:

“The people at Bethel Christian Centre are always patient and kind to people. They are never jealous of others’ success, nor are they boastful and proud. They are definitely not ‘stuck-up’ or snobby, looking down on others. People at Bethel are never rude or insensitive to other people no matter how different they might be. Neither are they are not bossy or controlling; rather, they delight in helping others to discover their gifts and succeed in life. They are not easily offended, and they don’t hold grudges – even when they might be justified in doing so. Bethel is a church that cares about the injustices we see in the world and passionately advocates for those who need a helping hand. They are people of integrity who love truth. You can trust what they say. They never give up, never lose faith, they are always hopeful, and they endure through every circumstance.”

That’s a pretty high standard, but I think that it’s worth aiming for. What a joy it would be to be part of that church! How could we keep people away?

Personally, I’m nowhere near that description, but I would love to think that as I let Jesus shine in me a little more each day, someone might say at lease some of those things about me and about our church someday.