Faith and Love

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people …
- Ephesians 1:15
 
Writing to the Ephesians, Paul took note of both their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all God’s people. Both of these matter.
 
Our connection to God shapes everything about us. Our souls settle into their small and significant places in the universe. We learn humility and drink deeply from the well of the love of God. We receive forgiveness and healing and new life to move forward into renewed relationships.
 
And all of this faith in the Lord Jesus spills over into love for all God’s people. We learn to love people who are different from us, people who annoy us, people who challenge us. This love doesn’t remove our differences. Instead, it builds bridges of connection in the most unlikely places.
 
But – here’s the thing – you can’t have one without the other: you can’t have meaningful faith in the Lord Jesus without also having love for all God’s people; you can’t have love for all God’s people without also placing your faith in the Lord Jesus.
 
The world abounds with stories of Christian communities who treasure doctrine but don’t treasure people. They claim to know and represent Jesus, but they lack his compassion, his kindness, and his love. Their hollow piety becomes brittle and ragged and sharp. They hurt themselves and others.
 
We must learn to link our faith to love. Without love, our faith is mere fiction.
 
Paul links faith and love on purpose. Love without faith loses steam quickly. Perhaps you’ve seen this happen. Unfettered from the larger relationship with Jesus, our other loves begin to collapse in on themselves. We grow weary with doing good. We become self-seeking and selfish. We treat people as objects and bend the objects of our love to our own ends.
 
Which of these – faith or love – do you need help pressing into this week? Ask the Lord to give you the faith and love that you need to move forward.

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