9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
If we really want to be like Christ, which is what defines us as Christians, then we must love people no matter how unlovable they seem. In other words, we must make a quality decision to walk in love at all times, with all people.
We must choose to get under the umbrella of love, and stay under that love cover no matter what goes on around us. One of the keys to being like our Lord is not to be critical. Unfortunately, Christians are some of the most critical people in the world, often in the name of Christ!
Even Jesus said He did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it! (see John 3:17) At the most crucial hour in world history, when our Master hung on the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Has there ever been a time in your life when “they” were crucifying you, and you said, “Lord, just forgive them. They don’t even know what they’re doing?” Or did you want to punch them in the nose and repent later? I’m sure you will agree that finding fault with other people is one of the easiest things to do!
Yet if we choose to walk in God’s mercy, in His Spirit of love and forgiveness, we will find ourselves becoming more and more uncomfortable with criticizing others. The more we grow in Christ, the less “natural” it will become for us to slip into our old pattern of fault-finding.