“Gross!”

I remember when my son, Curran, became sick this year sometime around Christmas. He slept most of the day away, but he woke up for a brief moment and asked if he could sit in my lap. I said, “Sure, buddy,” and he lay in my arms and fell asleep. Then he sat up and looked me in eyes; I felt that we were having a good father and son moment.

Until, without warning, he opened his mouth and vomited all over me.

It lasted for about 1 minute but it felt like an eternity. I could not move fast enough to get out of the way. I was dunking and dodging the vomit but I did not leave my son because he needed me.

I think of how many times I have offended God with my poor choices regardless of my motivation behind making them. But He never left my side. He was not pleased with my actions but He stayed with me through my illness of sin. God would not leave my side because I was His son and in my sin I was in desperate need of Him. He loved not only with words but with action.

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So, what about our fellow Christians? Why do we separate our love from them? In the midst of trouble, hardship, persecution, superficial issues, danger, or war I have seen Christians abandon each other and spread vicious rumors. As Christians we should allow nothing to come between us because we need each other.

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We don’t have the power to stop someone from having issues and taking them out on us, much like I did not have the power to stop Curran from getting sick and vomiting on me. But we do have the power to forgive them and remain close enough to them so they will know we are there to help.

I was moving out of the way of Curran’s projectiles so I would not get sick but I remained close enough to comfort him. Similarly, we should not stand by and subject ourselves to unnecessary pain, or we run the risk of “getting sick” ourselves. We can become bitter, unforgiving, cold hearted, or yet worse – walk away from the Lord. We must know when we are close enough to love and help, and when we are too close to damaging sin.

This is why we must learn to love as God loves. We allow nothing to stop our love for God’s people or even our enemies for that matter. The word is filled with categorical love, but we are not like them. We walk in love, speak the truth in love, and never stop loving. We love even when it hurts. If our spiritually sick brother or sister in Christ wrongs us, we remain steadfast and try to help them get well. We are close enough to help while ensuring we are not putting ourselves in position to get “sick” as well.

Stay focused. By God’s grace, you can do this.

Romans 8:35-39