I Cor 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

In this verse, charity is another word for love. The greatest thing is love. God is the very essence of love. But sometimes love is painful. But Christ’s love for us was very painful for him.  He suffered horrific things out of love for all mankind. People committing sin and walking in evil need God’s love and truth. They don’t need our judgments, our doctrines, or our ideas.  They don’t need denominational bylaws and legalistic ideas. They need God’s love.

We need to love people despite their sins.  They need our compassion.  I am not saying we are to get in the pit of sin with them. Embracing people in love can be done without ignoring or accepting their sins. We need to be kind and share our faith. Sometimes it is a long process of small seeds being sown. Sometimes they just need to know someone cares about their situations or needs.

People think in order to love someone, we have to accept everything; we have to be inclusive of their sin. We can love people without embracing their sins. They need to know we love them in spite of their sin.

A friend of mine shared a dream with me recently. She dreamed that a homeless man entered the church and the pastor started yelling at him to repent.  This man had been homeless, beaten up and hungry.  He kept telling the pastor he didn’t understand, that he was in pain. Finally, in the dream, my friend went to him and told him that Jesus loved him and that she would help him.

I thought that was a good illustration. People don’t need us to be judgmental; they don’t need us to scream “repent” at them.  They need us to help them with their wounds and needs.  Like the good Samaritan.  He didn’t attack the guy with a judgmental attitude; he saw to his needs. If we gain people’s confidence, they will be more willing to allow us to share the gospel with them.

1 Cor 16:14 14 Let all your things be done with charity. Another word for charity is love.  As the children of God, we need to walk in love.  Showing people the compassion of God.

Make Love A Priority This Week

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS