Don’t Just Tolerate
As Christians, we are called to do more than just tolerate one another. We are called to love. We are called to love our enemies, love our neighbors, obviously our wives and kids, basically everyone God has put on this earth. But we tend to make exceptions. There are many people that we simply tolerate under the guise of love. It could be because they are a family member, and so we feel compelled to include them. But if asked, I bet they would say they don’t actually feel included. It may be that we tolerate because we know we aren’t supposed to hate others. But sometimes apathy stings worse than hatred.
Think about it: when you love someone, you go out of your way to show that love (gifts, spending time, words of encouragement, etc.). You think about them, pray for them, call to see how they are doing, give them the benefit of the doubt. You look past their faults, you embrace them for who they are rather than judging them for their faults.
Is there someone that you just tolerate rather than love? Maybe it’s not just you as an individual, maybe your whole family or group of friends has treated someone this way. Maybe you should be the one to be bold and start showing the kind of love that the Bible talks about. The kind of love we like to receive. The kind of love Christ has for us.
Don’t just tolerate; love.
