Love is more than loving the lovable.

Love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8

As Christians, we should stand out from the world.  Specifically how we love should be how we stand out.  But it doesn’t take being a Christian to love Mr. or Mrs. Wonderful. It doesn’t take being a Christian to love that perfect little baby.  It doesn’t take being a Christian to love that fellow church worker as we light-heartedly work together on a ministry.  These are examples of “front-end” love.  That’s the easy part, at the beginning of  relationships; before we get to know people’s faults.  Before they let us down.  Before we let them down.

So where do we shine?  At the back-end of love.  After Mr. Wonderful didn’t call to say he’d be late, again.  After Mrs. Wonderful’s jokes pointed out a major fault- in front of everyone!  After the perfect baby looked us straight in the eye and said “No!”  After that fellow church worker shirked their responsibilities-again, or even worse: disagreed with us!  Maybe our expectations of looking different to the world happen after the warts start showing up.  Yes, we always expect the best of God, and yes we expect and strive to have Him work the best in us.  But maybe when we look at others, maybe, just maybe, we should expect to forgive.  A lot.  That is where God’s love comes through. That is where we look different from the world. That’s how we shine.

So, let’s look for offenses (we’re going to see them anyway) but with a change of purpose.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, let’s look for offenses so that we can overlook them;  let’s look for hurtful actions so that we can quickly forgive;  let’s look for harsh words so that we can answer softly with kindness.  And they will know we are Christians by our love.

Copyright Christine Joy

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Christine Joy is Midwest raised with a Colorado heart. Her four children have recently emptied the nest and her husband says they are “back where they started”. She is continuing her love of Bible Study while exploring her interest in writing.