love one another

1 Peter 1: 22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
 
It is hard to love one another all the time isn’t it? We rub each other the wrong way, we do things differently, we don’t think the same way. We disagree theologically and philosophically. Sometimes it would just be easier if everyone did and thought the same way I did!
 
That would fix everything! . . . . Well not quite. . . . The truth is God made us all different. With different skills and abilities and thoughts and approaches to life. It’s no wonder we disagree. I mean that’s what makes faith community so diverse; the plethora of people and life experience.
 
Church is a tapestry and has richness because of its diversity and variety. So how do we love one another, from the heart as the Bible says?
 
I think the best way is to ask God to help you see other people the way God sees them. He made them, he knows them and he loves them.
 
Not everyone has to be like us. We don’t have to agree to love each other well and want the best for each other. It just takes not being easily offended and believing the best of each other.
 
A friend once asked me, how do you walk into situations with people who don’t want you there and I replied, “I just pretend everyone is delighted to see me.”
 
I learnt this one off my daughter. She just thinks she is God’s gift to the world.
 
And so she is. And so are you. And so am I. Let’s see each other as God’s gift and love each other well.

​-Erica Noonan-