What do you do when you don’t agree with someone’s beliefs?
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What do you do when you don’t agree with someone? How do you handle it when you have a different belief from someone else? What is your reaction when you see a post on your favorite social media and it puts your “knickers in a bunch.” Um, I mean you get upset by it.
Especially now more than ever, we’ve seen good and poor examples of this in society.
In life, we will never agree with everyone on everything.
People professing to be followers of Christ shamelessly backbite and tear one another apart for the world to see. I’ve seen people put down, insulted, vehemently arguing, and, pièce de résistance, stab other Christians in the back all in the name of Christ–and that’s just at church.
What about when it’s online? It can get even uglier as if we’re not talking to real people. Humans tend to get even bolder in their insults when they’re not face-to-face or they think they’re anonymous.
Even among Churches, disagreements over doctrine have led to a mind-numbing number of denominations.
History tells this same story.
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Was our Christianity meant to be lived out like that?
What do non-believers think when they see those who profess Christ biting and devouring each other over disagreements especially within our religion?
Would our treatment of each other make others want to follow the same Jesus we’re following? Who wants to sign up for that kind of Christianity?
I’d like to propose a better way. I’d like to propose Jesus’ way.
John 13:34 NIV
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
In the Old Testament, God gave Israel the Ten Commandments. Most of us have heard of them. No other gods before Him, don’t murder, don’t covet, etc.
But, when Jesus came on the scene, He changed everything. Jesus didn’t come and give us more commandments. He gave us two.
Matthew 22:37 NIV
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Then, He narrowed it down to one.
John 15:12 NASB
This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.John 15:17 NASB
This I command you, that you love one another.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
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That’s it. That’s our job. That’s our numero uno commandment. Love one another.
But what about the Great Commission? Go into all the world and so on.
Matthew 28:19-20 NASB
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Here’s the thing. When we love each other, people who don’t know Jesus will be attracted to what we have. They will be drawn in.
John 13:35 NIV
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
We will automatically fulfill the Great Commission when we love one another.
The passage below is some of the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples before going to the cross. Someone’s last words are usually something they want you to remember. Take a moment to ponder Jesus’ words. They are for us too.
John 15:12-17 NASB
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another.
Next time, we’ll explore HOW we can love those that are hard to love.