GOD'S PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO LOVE EACH OTHER

Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-29

Our heroine, bound hand, foot and every where in between by heavy ropes is tied to a set of railroad tracks.  Helplessly she struggles as the train roars down the track and the villain with the cheesy moustache wearing a black hat and frock coat rubs his hands and chortles in glee.

Taylor Swift, in her music video, "Mean," uses that image to describe how it feels when people act in unloving ways -- name calling, back stabbing betrayal, lies and put-downs.  I can relate to that.  I've felt tied up in knots because of what someone said about me or did to hurt me.  I think we've all been there.

But sometimes, there are things we do that tie ourselves up, that bind us.  As human beings, we may choose to respond in anger, do something to get back at someone or nurse a grudge.  We may treat someone unkindly because we're jealous. or out of selfishness and self-interest, quarrel, insisting on getting our own way.  Whenever we treat anyone other than out of love, we wrap ourselves tighly in ropes of sin.

The problem is that unloving, sinful behavior can prevent God's grace from working fully in our life.  If it spreads throughout a church, it even will adversely affect the life of that faith community, binding God's power and it's ability to thrive.

When we're in that state of spiritual bondage, the only thing that will free us is grace and love.

As Christians, when we accept the grace of God through Christ Jesus, we are obligated by God's great and ongoing love for us to do two things:  love God with everything we have through obedience and service and to love one another as Christ has loved us.

In I Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV), we find a description of the kind of love God expects to share with others.  It is the love that Christ modeled for us in his life, death and resurrection:

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres."

In the video, Taylor Swift throws off the ropes that have bound her to the tracks, declaring that those who hurt her no longer have any power over her.  With the ropes of sin that result from us not loving others, God wants us to do the same thing. 

God wants us to put off unloving actions and put on Christ-like behaviors.
When we are willing to forgive, to accept and love one another just as we are, to recognize the image of God in each person and to seek the good of others, we are choosing God's way of love.  God's grace and the power of Heaven are then loosed to work healing in our lives and in our church.  When God's grace is set free in our lives, lives are changed and miracles happen as we are freed to carry on Christ's ministry.





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