Non-Negotiable
“We love because he first loved us. 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. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” 1 John 4:19-21
Insight
Loving God includes loving people. It sounds simple and straightforward. I think we all agree that we SHOULD love everyone. But why do we often dismiss this and excuse ourselves when it’s hard?
I remember a few years back when I first understood that love is an action. As Mike defines it, love is a force that breathes worth and value into people. I realized that passively being nice is not the same as being loving. Sure, it is kindness, but it isn’t love.
My husband and I have a 4- and 2-year-old who share a room. They typically are pretty good about staying in bed but our oldest, Averie, usually wakes up significantly before her little brother. We have one of those clocks that tells them they have to stay in their room until the light turns green which is usually about an hour to an hour and a half after they wake up in the morning. Just to be clear, they have been doing this for a little over a year and at first there were definitely hiccups, but after many tweaks and redirecting, they have grown to love this uninterrupted play time with just the two of them.
When Braxton, the 2-year old, first moved into Averie’s room there were many early morning meltdowns. Averie was excited to have Braxton in her room, but I think at first she viewed him as a new toy that she was in charge of. When Braxton didn’t want to play along, they would scream and cry, or sometimes hit until my husband or myself intervened. We definitely had moments of wondering if sharing a room was a good idea, but now we couldn’t imagine it any other way. Here’s the thing though, our kids didn’t suddenly start wanting all the same things and they didn’t just decide to leave each other alone. As parents, we gave them the tools to communicate and work things out. We taught them how to love one another.
I don’t say this to pat ourselves on the back. I say it as a reminder to myself that the difficult relationships in my life aren’t done just because they are hard.
The people I don’t see eye to eye with aren’t meant to be written off and forgotten, nor is it my job to make them think like I do. If we all took a step back and learned how to love one another, we would begin to see God’s Kingdom in this world.
God says that if we love Him, we HAVE to love others. It’s non-negotiable just like it was non-negotiable for our kids to work it out. God doesn’t say, try to get along, but if it’s too hard, don’t worry about it. As parents, we give our kids the tools to learn to love one another. God has given us the tools to love others, along with the countless examples of His love and faithfulness. We love because He first loved us.
Reflection
Who are you struggling to love right now and why?
What would it look like to bring God’s love to your connection with this individual?
Prayer
God, thank you for loving us. Thank You for creating people differently than myself. I pray for grace and patience and understanding when it comes to other people. I pray for eyes to see others like You see me. Help me to discover the tools that You have given me to love others like You have called me to. Amen.
Katie Robinson, Port City’s Children’s Ministry Home Coordinator, wrote today’s devotional.
