True Love or Favoritism? Part I

True Love or Favoritism? Part I

"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'   "Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward." (Matt 25:45-46)

The dictionary defines fellowship as "friendly association with others; companionship".  Christian fellowship involves friendly association with other christians. 

What is at the heart of christian love?  Jesus said, "By this, all will know that you are my disciples, if  you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

John wrote, "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.  He who does not love his brother abides in death." (1 John 3:14)  And "by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."  (1 John 5:2-3)

Genuine friendship loves for love's sake, not just for what it can get in return.  True friendship is both challenging and exciting.  It risks, it overlooks faults, and loves unconditionally, but it also involves being truthful, even though it may hurt.

Genuine friendship, also called "agape love", comes from God.  Jesus calls us his friend and laid down his life for us (John 15).

How can we sing "I Am A Friend of God" and expect the benefits of that friendship when we cannot even be friends to one another.

We say we love God, but fail to pass the the love of God on to others, much less reflect that love through our actions.  We can say we love, but our actions speak louder than our words.

All the talk about Christianity and God's Love makes me step back and wonder where can a person find this to be true?