Love without qualification

Sometimes well-intentioned church-going folks act like they've forgotten Christ didn't die on the cross to save the holy and the righteous, but to save sinners ... and that they were born into sin just like everyone (except Christ) else.

Some of us might like to argue otherwise, but none of us were born saved, none of us were saved by our smarts or by our righteousness, none of us inherited our salvation because we came from strict God-fearing homes, none of us negotiated a plan or worked out a deal with God or did anything else on our own to earn God's favor and skip past falling short.

And gasp ... none of us were saved by singing hymns, by wearing a suit to church or by memorizing Bible verses or by bragging about how much we tithe. Just like none of us were saved by not dancing, by condemning alcohol, or by refusing to shop or go to movies on Sundays.

Nobody earned salvation by ridiculing and pointing fingers at sinners, either.

Grace is God's perfect gift ... so why do so many believers act as though it's their birthright to distort Christ's love into their own doctrine of finger-pointing, suspicion and uncertainty?

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Self-righteousness, pride and arrogance cause us to lose focus on becoming more Christ-like toward others and to act, in our words and our deeds, like we deserved our salvation because of our own righteousness. Which is the same thing as professing we don't know Christ because we never needed him to begin with.

Treating unsaved people ... the folks we should be focused upon witnessing to ... with hostility or arrogance amounts to a faith that's indifferent to God's grace and Christ's sacrifice.

And indifference ... treating others as though You sinners can go to hell for all I care ... belongs beside hate as the opposites of Love.




On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."
-Matthew 9:12

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 5:8

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
- 1 John 3:23