WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE?
1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
In 1989 I set out on a quest to harvest a Grand Slam of wild turkeys. Now there are some that would say, "huh?" But this is one of each of 4 species of turkeys in the USA. I had only harvested eastern turkeys at the time and that was only in our home area of Upper Michigan. There was so much else to see and do.
I was offered an amazing opportunity to hunt Oceola turkeys in Florida next. And I was also offered to bring a friend. I asked a friend that had never successfully hunted Oceola turkeys to join me and he offered to pay my travel expenses.
We arrived at hunting camp just outside Orlando and right away we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Our two hosts argued about where we would hunt the following morning... actually the argued about everything. It became uncomfortable at times and it made me very nervous. But within a day or two, we saw that while they might not agree on everything, they cared deeply for one another. We went back and hunted with these two friends many times over the years and things never changed.
The two of them were like two gobblers in a field. They could be walking along side by side one moment and the next they could be wrapped in battle... within seconds they're side by side again.
As a Christian family we will never agree on everything. In fact in our personal lives we may not agree on much. However in Peters 1st letter, he directs us to love one another with sympathy and humility. How often we want our own way at the cost of others feelings.
The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22-23,
"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
We will have disagreements, but the answer to this is not to argue or attack, it is to love and care for the other. When we can care more about a brother or sister's issues than we do our own, we will fulfill what Christ taught us.
Christ's example was to leave His home in heaven and to come to earth to live, and die on a cross. Why? Because he loved us that much. It wasn't for His benefit but for ours.
What right do we have to treat a Christian family member with any less respect and honor. I speak to all of us, including myself.
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples. if you have love for one another.
Amen
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