If we say that we love and follow Christ, then why is it so challenging to love

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   Tracy K.posted 11 years ago

   If we say that we love and follow Christ, then why is it so challenging to love one another?
   
   If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1 John 4:20)
   As Christians, we tell others how much we love Jesus yet we struggle in our day-to-day relationships with each other - with our family members, on the job, with members of our church. So when others see us bickering, gossiping and at odds, it truly affects our confession as a Christian.  What steps can we take to actively line up our words with our actions?

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   josh3418posted 11 years ago

   I think the problem here is that we do not love God how we say we love Him.  We can not love our brethren if we are not in complete service to Him.  If He is not first in our lives, then it will clearly shoe in our everyday lives.  So is he really first in our lives? Well, how are our relationships doing? if are relationships are not succeeding, then there is something wrong with our relationship with God.

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      Tracy K.posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It's not easy. Sometimes, we either don't know that we offend others regularly or we do and just don't care. I believe that it should be our desire to always apply God's principles to relationships instead of our own.

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      josh3418posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, Tracy, it most certainly is not easy, I agree with you!

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   M. T. Dremerposted 11 years ago

   This simple answer is that God and/or Jesus can be whoever we want them to be. Everyone's interpretation of (and faith in) Jesus is different. He isn't a being that is physically standing next to you and interacting with you and, therefore, he can't disagree with you on anything. Person X says they love Jesus because they think he is compassionate, while Person Y says they love Jesus because they think he is wise. If Jesus suddenly showed up and did something to conflict with one person's belief, they might not love him anymore, even if the other person's reason was still valid. Where as with the people around us, they all have their own personal views, ideas and flaws. These differences don't change based on how we feel about that person because that person is separate from us. So this naturally breeds conflict and makes it harder to love everyone unconditionally.

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      Tracy K.posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, we do have our own personal views, ideas and flaws - God made each of us so distinctively different and it can be quite a challenge as we interact with one another.

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   royalblkroseposted 11 years ago

   because we are people. We have our own hang-ups and frailties. We have to learn to love ourselves as He loves us before we can love others....
   Too many of us still look at others through the mental filters of bitterness, prejudice
   hurt of all kinds, UNFORGIVENESS, jealousy. .
   We forget that gossip is SIN. We are lazy about living in holiness and don't want to be accountable to one another and most especially to Him.

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      Tracy K.posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I can agree with you on this.... Imperfect people serving a perfect Jesus.

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   Vegas Eliasposted 11 years ago

   Many people don't know what it means when they say that they love Christ. Christ clearly says that feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and loving one of the poorest is like loving Him. This is something people fail to realize. Of course it is not that easy to do all this. In such a scenario it should be good not to go around declaring that one loves Christ. I know some who go on fighting and backbiting and still with the same breath swearing that they love Christ.
   This is human nature. This has been the case from time immemorial.

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   VeronicaInspiresposted 11 years ago

   We don't operate under the same love that God operates--God's love is PERFECT. We're not perfect.
   
   It's easier to dismiss the people that hurt us or get on our nerves. But if you say you love God, then your love for Him should be a reflection in how you love others.
   
   Jesus said, love God with all your heart and love others as you love yourself. But if you don't love yourself, how can you love someone else? You can't give what you don't have.

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