#LoveWins // Love Is // Part 1

Nature and Tough Love

Does love win if we continue to draw lines in the sand and spew hate at each other? Does love win if we refuse to personify the enemy? Does love win if we accept sin and reject God? Does love win if we don't treat each other like human beings? When does love win?
Love won a little under 2000 years ago when our creator took on flesh and bore the sins of mankind. He who hates sin, took on an immeasurable burden, did the impossible, and saved us from eternal damnation in the name of love. Love for us. Fast-forward 2000 years and we who claim to be his followers, preach love, but live sin. I admit that it's hard to love the sinner while hating the sin. It doesn't make it easier when we build a hierarchy of sin and create a false sense of holiness. It doesn't help when we conveniently forget that our sins are just as great as any other humans.

I used to be a firm believer in the concept of tough love. Then I committed a sin that if my family had tough love for me, I wouldn't have had the wedding of my dreams. I would feel a lot more alone in a state that will never truly be my home. I would feel more unprepared and unsupported entering motherhood. I suppose if I had experienced some tough love earlier in my life, I wouldn't be in this situation. This unplanned pregnancy has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. I used to think that was a good and holy concept. I still believe that tough love is a good way to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to hold each other accountable and called to call each other out when we are living in sin. This is not shaming those who commit sins that are more obvious than our own. This is not the shaming of those who have not yet come into the family of God. This is not shaming for sin at all. The gospel of Christ is not shameful. The gospel of Christ is a gospel of love.

Sin is a conscious choice, but it is natural. It feels so good and right to fall into sin, especially as a non-Christian. We are born with a sin nature and there should be no accusation more than the separation from God. I am not saying we do not choose to sin, but it also isn't all our fault that we continue to live in sin before we are saved. It feels natural. It is what we know. Nevertheless, we are guilty. This admission of guilt is not a specific condemnation for some sins and a "get out of jail free card" for sins that our society does not condemn. Every society has had a hierarchy of morals with some sins being worse than others. Our society sees rapists as the scum of the earth, but worships gossipers and slanderers (if they present it in the right way). We put liars into positions of leadership, but put murderers in jail. We allow the killing of preborn babies, but condemn gluttony to the point of regulating the chemicals we put into our bodies.

It is natural to sin. It is natural to judge, yet he who has no sin cast the first stone. As Christians we are held to a higher standard. we are expected to love the unlovable and see the human God created and loves, not the sins they commit. The tough love implemented and encouraged for other Christians only works when there is a base of established, unconditional love. Often, we approach strangers with the expectations and tough love, when they need to know unconditional love. They need to know the love of Jesus before we can give them any tough love. Tough love is for the family. Jesus loves the sinners and hates the sins, how much more should we as humans--sinners and lovers of sin-- love our enemy, love our neighbor, yet we condemn in the name of love.I am not saying that we need to accept the sin. I am not saying that there are not wrongs occurring. I am not saying we need to accept a culture of sin in order to love those who participate in a culture of sin. I am not saying we need to welcome a pattern of sin into our lives. I am saying that we need to love first. We need to allow our lives to be lights. We cannot preach love and call ourselves Christians if our lives do not reflect a culture of love. Our words are nothing, if our lives do not reflect the same.