Learn to Love

On any given Sunday morning I assume as a Pastor that about 60-70% of the people sitting in the pews are hurting emotionally or dealing with major problems. On any given Sunday I could even be among that number. Just because we are Christians does not mean that life's problems suddenly have disappeared once we came to know Jesus. We live in a fallen world is a great theological explanation about the pain we all experience, but it does little good to solve the problem that we are experiencing. What we need is love and compassion from other people until we have pressed through this dark time in our life.

God has placed each of us within a body of Christ and that body is to function with an attitude of a family. We don't think about the Church as a family, but that is what God has intended it to be. Like any family if we don't communicate with one another we will not grow together. If we do not communicate with one another we will be a disjointed or dysfunctional family. I don't believe any of us want to be dysfunctional, but that is a major problem with the Church today.

Maybe part of the problem is that people are not telling each other that they are hurting or going through a tough time. Some people want others or the Pastor to read their minds and discover it on their own. But each of us is dealing with issues every week that tends to keep us inward focused. Every family that is successful is a family that has learned how to talk to one another and love each other. If we are feeling down and out and all alone maybe its because we have not let that be known to other people. Bitterness pervades the Church at times and this breaks my heart. We are commanded to love each other and love has many different sides to it. Galatians 6:10 in the NLT states "Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters." Those are words that each of us needs to digest and act upon. The Pastor cannot do it on his own. The Church was made to be a community that ministered to one another. If you start ministering to a few people in your Church on a regular basis you can expect to be ministered too as well. Learn to love the family God has placed you in and watch the love that is returned to you.