Notice that endurance and encouragement are granted to
enable us to live at harmony with each other. We all know that getting on with
some other people can be difficult at times.
And the truth Is that at times we ourselves can be difficult to get on
with. So we (and those who have to get one with me!) need endurance and
encouragement. We need to stick at it and not give up on people. We also need
encouragement that there is hope! You see the Bible is both completely
realistic about how things are, but also full of hope about how things can be.
Jesus prayed that we would be one. Unity exalts the Lord.
Now this is not a unity that ignores truth or real differences, but let’s be
honest, most of our differences are not really about rational disagreements.
God’s purpose for humanity is that all of us will glorify
Him together. So we are to welcome each other as Christ welcomed us. When He
welcomed us were not attractive, we had done nothing to earn His respect. In
fact we had done quite the opposite, yet He invited us to get to know Him. Now
how do we react when we meet people? We ask ourselves if we like them or not,
we look for good qualities in them. Now up to a point this is OK and is very
sensible. However, we have been sent out to call the lost, and many of the lost
will be dresses in rags. They will have all sorts of character flaws (just like
you and me, by the way). We need the grace of God in our lives to be able to
get to know people who we might naturally recoil from.
Now this is not a call to be total fools. We need wisdom and
discernment, but Godly discernment includes knowing when someone, despite all
sorts of outward reactions is actually reaching out to God. Lord gives us the
love that you have.
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