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meditations for an everyday relationship with Jesus
The consistence of love
John 4:9-12 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atonement or sacrifice) for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.
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Not because we loved Him, but because He loved us first!
No one has seen God, but we have seen what Jesus did on the cross and we have seen what true believers have done in His name.
If we overcome the judgments, poor marketing and outright lies levied against us by loving one another we remove any excuse and obstacle to belief in an unbelieving world.
In Christ our love can be consistent and pure; by His blood our wrongs are made right and His message is made clear: “If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.” voice God gave me
Love speaks for and to itself. Each spirit knows this.
Restoration
Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
So, what is our inclination when someone is caught in wrongdoing … especially within the scope of church-think?
Our responses tend to run in two distinct directions: jump into the same pot and try to save the individual from further harm or to expose the individual’s wrongdoing by shaming them in the count of public opinion.
Neither approach is beneficial: the first approach may lead to the rescuer being sucked into the same temptation as the one being rescued, while the alternative is not Christian, or indeed humane, by any stretch of the imagination.
We might well refer to Matthew 18:15-17 so that how these things are handled is done with grace, is consistent with the balance of Scripture, and does not set anyone up for further failure.