One of the magnificent things about Christ was that he was as John said “..full of grace and truth…”  He was the perfect fulfillment of each.  He could love with no bounds and yet not condone the sins of the people.

Remember the account of the woman caught in adultery?  She was caught in the very act.  Jesus lavishes His grace upon her to bring her to repentance and yet at the very same time he brings the Pharisees to place of knowledge and truth of their sins.  Not only them but He warns to woman to “…go and sin no more”.

How about the woman at the well?  He carefully explains the path of grace and yet doesn’t condone the fact that she has five husbands and is now with another man.  He reveals the truth that He is the Messiah.  She receives grace and truth.

We likewise can be full of grace and truth if:

1. We submit ourselves to Him and His Word

2. We seek to love first

3. We realize our need for Christ

4. We honestly look at our own battle of flesh vs spirit (refer to #3)

We can love others and still disagree with their choices to embrace sin.  It seems that the media and the agendas of others would want us to believe otherwise, but this truth remains:

Disagreement does not equal hate

As a child I was taught that disagreement is healthy for debate and come to more complete and effective solutions.  While in college I was taught the debate of different ideas is healthy and helps us to learn and empathize.  Now it seems that some seek to stop conversation and stop debate.  For me this seems ridiculous.  We live a free country (for now) whereby we can express our opinions and ideas to the best of our ability.

One of the things that grieves me most is when professing believers carry the name of Christ to bring hate toward those in sin.  There voice keeps shouting louder and louder to condemn and yet the result is that they have condemned even themselves.

I would suggest it is possible for us to love others that struggle with sin regardless if it’s one of the “big ones” in the media (e.g. abortion, homosexuality, etc.) because of the love of Christ that has been shown to us in our sin.  Paul says it best, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.  Does this not move us to compassion to do the same?

We have to realize that all of us are found in the same place before God…unworthy.  When we experience His true grace, we no longer count sins but repent and get lost in His grace.  It moves us to have a genuine desire for others to experience this wonderful freedom in Christ,  We are to explore God’s word together with others. Let’s get started today!

Are we not confident that His Word will not return void?  Of course it will not return void!  Let’s care less about winning an argument and more about living and loving through the truth.