As Christians we are told to love our neighbours as ourselves. We are told that God is love and that as his followers we should love and show love to all around us. We are told to be compassionate like the good Samaritan, non-judgemental as Jesus told those who condemned the woman caught in adultery and to show sacrificial love to our brothers and sisters like Jesus did on the cross.
However, too often this is far from reality.
I am not a Christian by birth right and by this, I mean that my parents did not attend Church when I was a child. I also did not become a Christian following the realisation that I had ‘made a mess of my life’. I have always believed in God but turned to the Church because of a desperate need for unconditional love and acceptance. Unfortunately, I found neither in the church.
Sadly, I am not alone in this experience and have met countless souls put off by the hypocrisy and lack of compassion shown by a group of people who claim to represent the God of love.
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Love is not a feeling that we do or do not experience, love is something we CHOOSE to show to those around us. It must be unconditional and accompanied by acts of compassion and loving kindness that better represent what a feeling or a simple word ever could. Love is not easy, it is sacrificial, it is forgiving, it is self-denying, it is often not returned and it is only when it becomes this hard that we truly experience and demonstrate the love of Jesus.
It is time that as the united Church of Christ, we reclaim the love that Jesus showed us not just in words but also in the way we act towards our fellow humans whoever they may be.
My purpose with this blog is to inspire Christians and non Christians to view Christianity from the point of view of the immense grace and love of God