Recovery Christian Center Daily Meditation - Loving Relationships With Others

"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.......
We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters." 1 John 4:7-12, 19-21 NLT

The text tells us that the most tangible evidence of a right relationship with God shows through in how we treat others. The proof that we have bought into God's unconditional love is us loving others unconditionally. How can we talk about the love of God without demonstrating that love? When the lost soul comes in proximity with Christ and recovery, it will very likely be the love he experiences from other believers that becomes the deciding factor in his surrender. He doesn't need judgement, or condemnation, or rejection. He needs love, acceptance and hope.

We also need to demonstrate that love in our relationships with other believers. Our job is to love and encourage one another, and even when we are lead to pull someone up, it should be done tactfully, patiently and with loving kindness. The person should see that we're correcting them because we care, not because we're being self righteous. We need to show the same forgiveness, love, compassion, mercy, grace and acceptance that Christ has shown us and continues to show us when we make mistakes. As a wise pastor once said, "Folk don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."