One Degree to Another
Most of life is interacting with other people. Whether we realize it or not, we spend most of our days talking with, working with, or simply being around others. Then when you consider that most people treat browsing social media as a hobby, we see that interacting with and thinking about other people has become an even larger part of our lives. When we are around other people, we deal with their bad moods, personality flaws, and sins. When we are honest with ourselves we will admit that other people have to deal with these things in us too.
This is why the Bible spends so much time talking about how we treat other people. In a real sense, how you talk to people, how you talk about people, how you think about other people, and how you respond when you are wronged is a measure of whether or not you are a Christian. Consider the words of James, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” Hear the words of the Apostle John as well, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Words like these are hard for us to hear because we often have a difficult time loving people and treating people kindly. Sure, it’s easy to love the people who love us and never cross us, but Jesus said anyone can do that. We all have a litany of people we can rattle off who have offended us, crossed us, and mistreated us. Hearing that how we treat them is the test of whether or not we know Jesus is difficult to swallow.
How do we find the motivation to love those who have mistreated us or who are just really hard to be around? The Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:29-5:2 help us at this point. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Notice the commands in this verse- walk in love, let no corrupting talk come from your mouth, and forgive each other. These imperatives are difficult to obey because often we do not want to do them. Yet the imperatives are not the only words in this passage. There are also statements about who Christians are in Jesus. When he calls on us to forgive, it is, “as God in Christ forgave you.” Our walking in love should be done “as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”
Do you see what Paul did? You should forgive those who wrong you, but you do it because you have already been forgiven by God because of Jesus. How do we love difficult people? We have been the recipients of Jesus’ love, and his love was not in word only. He walked in love and gave Himself up for us. Who you are in Christ determines what you do. You have been loved. You have been forgiven. You are the recipient of the kindness of God. Therefore, forgive as you have been forgiven, love as you have been loved, and show kindness as you have been shown kindness.
Related Posts:
“Loving Our Neighbor in Practice”
“How I Learned about Forgiveness”
For Further Reading:
Forgiveness by John MacArthur
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