The call to love is no respecter of persons. I may not know who will walk through the door, or across my path each day, but that doesn’t change the call. God moves toward us even while we are at our worst. We are to give witness to such grace by doing the same with others.

That doesn’t mean we are to tolerate abuse, mistreatment, injustice and the like. To do so is the opposite of love. In such instances, love names it and calls for repentance – a turning of heart and a change in action – and where there is none, separation even fleeing if one can/must.

But we must also be careful to not quickly label unreasonableness as abuse, or arrogance as oppression, or whatever immature expression of self one dishes out at an another as injustice. Sometimes we are simply being the ornery, childish, selfish people we can be.

Our redemption is at hand yet not complete. We are filled with the Spirit yet we often do what we don’t want to do. Love and move toward one another as a shared expression of the hope we have in Christ; as a witness to the world that we are his disciples; and, in confidence that God’s redemptive activity is not stopped by any foolish thing we can do.

Let us strive to reveal:

• the kindness of God which leads to repentance
• the compassion of God which leads to our comforting
• the patience of God which leads to our redemption

Let us love regardless of who walks through the door or across our path.

As we love, let us entrust ourselves to the God who judges all things rightly and loves while no respecter of persons.