I recently read a tweet from a Christian that touched me in a profound way:
We become more and more joyless and call it Jesus. More and more hateful and call it holiness. Less and less creative and call it maturity. We like fewer and fewer people and call it sanctification. We must think Jesus had the worst personality on earth.
I believe that on the whole Christians are well-intentioned, and because Christians have a profound fear of God (and hell) they are desperate for others to know Jesus and practise sound doctrine. But I also recognise that if we’re not careful, the fear of God can turn us into horrible people.
I have been guilty of rebuking people for what I have regarded as ungodly behaviour. When Christians do this we feel as though we are sticking up for the gospel and helping people. But let us always keep in mind what Jesus said about judging others:
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5 NKJV)
It seems to me that no two Christians believe exactly the same things. So we should be especially careful about rebuking one another, and aim instead to show love and kindness, care and understanding, and empathy, with our neighbours.
Surely the fruit of the Spirit, as we read about in Galatians, should be evident in the lives of believers if we are truly committed to living in a godly way:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a NKJV)
Perhaps you have noticed yourself turning into a hard-hearted, joyless, uncreative, self-righteous Christian who is so eager not to be tainted by ‘the world’ that you find yourself living in a hateful bubble. If so, is it time to re-examine your faith and seek God afresh?
Perfect Chaos 
45 responses to “Christian Love”
Great post, As Christians we have this feeling that WE need to go out and save the world and become almost like a vigilante. But what we so often forget that it is not US who are doing the saving its Jesus we are simply a vessel that He has equipped to do so, and he equipped us with the fruit of the spirits. One which happens to patience, we can not shove our faith down someones throat, we can talk till we are blue in our face about our faith but until our actions start showing what are mouths are saying no one will believe. Keep posting blogs like these I love tackling the tough stuff!!
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Thanks so much for reading and following and I’m glad you like to look at the tough questions too! God bless and have a wonderful day! Steven 🙏🏻
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Thank you so much for sharing this post.
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You’re welcome! Thank you so much for reading and following. God bless!
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God Bless you, Abundantly
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Love your T-Shirt – “I am not lucky, I am blessed” – so cool 🙂
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Yes Sir. Thank You
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LOVED THIS! Thank you for speak what was on your heart!
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Bless you Adrienne! I’m glad it spoke to you. Thanks for visiting! 🙂
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This is a great post. I feel like it serves to remind us that we are called to live out 1 Corinth 13, and it’s also a reminder of Jesus’ call that tells us to love others as ourselves! Wayyyyy, easier said than done though, but with Christ all things are possible!!! 🙂
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[…] My most-liked post of 2017 Christian Love […]
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This post seeps truth out of every line. I think people (including Christians themselves) don’t realize that having a relationship with God is going to differ per person. Sure, the foundation is the same, we love God and believe the Bible as truth and that Jesus, born from a virgin, died and rose again. But after that, things differ. For example, my husband loves history and the history of God and reading into it, and takes a lot of that into his relationship with God. I on the other hand, could care less about history and my relationship with God focuses on faith and prayer. I don’t think either one of us our wrong, I think that just shows how being a Christian is more than church, it’s a relationship with the Almighty God and it might look identical for two people. As long as what is being focused on is God and the truth spoken from him through the Bible, you can’t really go wrong.
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Such a great way to engage believers to rethink their attitude! I love this! A beautiful reminder.
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Thank you, Sara. Glad the post resonated with you!
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It is so so important for Christians to show the love of God to the world. It is awesome that we are excited about spreading the Good News, and it’s exactly what we should do, but we have to do it in the correct manner. We have to minister through loving and serving others. THAT is what Jesus would do!
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Indeed, Soul Sparkle, that is what He did! His words were and are for all people.
Peace and love to all,
Dinos
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Christians, on the whole, are less like Jesus today than ever before. They are more afraid to share the gospel and more likely to “blend” into secular society. I see it daily.
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