There are many things we are called to do or be as Christians that are difficult.  We excuse our shortcomings as "human nature" or the "fallen" world we live in.  But can we truly justify our actions that way?

The place I see Christians struggle the most often, especially in relationship to each other, is with the simple command to love one another.  More than five hundred times that word is used in the bible in various forms, often grouped tightly with "unfailing"  Is our love unfailing?  Do we even try to allow it to be?  Or do the lives of others so threaten our security that we react in ways not only unloving, but downright hurtful?

Every day when I open my Access database I get a screen that asks "Block Harmful Expressions?" and buttons to click "yes" or "no."  Mostly I notice because it annoys me to have to keep clicking things when I just want to get the file open and get my work done.  Lately though it has been causing me to stop and think.  Do we as Christians "block harmful expressions"?  Can we even begin to reach out to each other, much less the world around us with the love of Christ if we cannot?

Sometimes those expressions are as subtle as the look on a face when you ask for prayers for someone with AIDS.  The uncomfortable "Oh..." when you explain that the ministry God has called you to is not a traditional one.  Even the subtle shunning that results from divorce, or chosing to change churches.  Or the exclusion of women either unmarried or childless, as if that's somehow makes them suspect as Christian women.  None of those things are issues that should be reacted to with less than whole hearted acceptance and joy in the opportunity to support and pray for our brothers and sisters.

So why is it so rarely the case that we do?  One of the most beautiful chapters in the bible is Jeremiah 31.  It tells of the restoration of Israel... the phrases the Lord uses are almost a "To Do" for us in building each other up.

...give rest...   take out your tambourines... dance with the joyful ... plant ... enjoy ...sing ... make your praises heard ... level a path where they will not stumble .... lead them to streams of water ... turn mourning into gladness ... there is hope ... restore me  ... have great compassion ... set up road signs ...refresh the weary ...satisfy the faint ... forgive their wickedness ... remember their sins no more ..

Usually I'm a stickler for not using partial verses, or taking things out of context.  These words so tell the tale though no matter the context within which they are used.  For God so loved the world...

For God so loved, the divorced woman sitting next to you tense, crying, feeling like a failure ...

For God so loved, the person battling AIDS ...

For God so loved, the woman smiling and scared there will be no soul mate for her ...

For God so loved, YOU ...

A favorite quote of mine contains the phrase "We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us"  That shakes me to my core, the glory of God within us.  That glory, God's glory, to me is his ability to love each and every pathetically flawed one of us ...unfailingly.  How can we refuse in even the smallest of ways to shower that love on all those we come in contact with?