The Words of John

It's no secret that I am a Christian. I attend church regularly.  I sing in the choir.  But that's not what makes me a Christian.  (Although it is part of it.)

What makes me a Christian is that I TRY (and I don't always succeed) to follow the teachings of Christ. Does that mean I've read the Bible cover to cover?  Heck no!  (I did try once and as I recall I didn't even get 1/4 way through the Old Testament!)  But what I do read on a semi-regular basis are the daily readings of the lectionary.  I especially focus on the reading when I know that I'm going to have to speak in church.  (I've already cut and pasted two of the readings in preparation for a Sunday in the summer when I will be speaking...I don't know what I'll say, but hopefully these passages will guide me.)

Yesterday's reading from 1 John was not one I was familiar with, but it really spoke to me.  Here are a few of those passages from chapters 3 and 4.: 

"1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

"1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love... 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us...19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."

While this passage comes from the New Testament to me it doesn't "just" speak to Christians, but to ALL.   And it reminds me what I need to do (try to do) every single day; not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.  Goes back to that old adage:  actions speak louder than words.  It is easy enough to say, "I love you," but how you SHOW that love is truth.  It is not enough to say the words, but we must act on them.  Love is not a powerful word, but a powerful action.

The passage that is difficult for me:  "Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister," which translates for me that we need to love and act in love to all.  That can be pretty difficult at times.  It's not hard to love family and friends, but what about the neighbor who revs his oversized pickup truck before dawn or the guy who bullied you as a kid.  It takes a strong person to feel love and act in love under those circumstances.  So perhaps it is best to look at those people that anger/frustrate you and remember that they are human beings too.  Not to diminish them; but hold them up as flawed humans (as we all).  To TRY and love them (while not loving their actions.)  

An example I can give from my own life is a man who bullied me when we were both younger.  He is now a successful professional.  (Or at least that's what social media tells me.)  I am not strong enough to let go of the hurt from all of those years ago, but as an adult I now know more about his life at that time.  I realize that his cruel actions were what he had learned.  I hope/pray that as an adult he has come to understand that those actions that were inflicted on him and that he in turn inflicted on others, were wrong and hurtful.  I hope/pray that he is grown into a man that knows love.  And perhaps if we ever met face to face again (which in all honesty I don't think will happen and in many ways I am grateful for that), that I would be able to act towards him in love.  That I while I would most likely never like him, that I could love him as a fellow human being.

Maybe we will never be able to love all our brothers and sisters.  But we should try.  We should make an effort to look at everyone as fellow human beings and realize that we all children of God.  That we should (try to) value one another and SEE each other as we see ourselves.  

At least that's how I see and understand it.  And it's what I will continue to (try to) do.  (Even as in all honesty, I will fail more than I succeed.)