The GREATER PRINCIPLE

In John's 1st Epistle chapter 3, it is written that Christians ought love one another.

"10    In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.  13    Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.14 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.15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16    By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

Here I see that God puts the fact out there that if we are to be His children we are to love each other.  I have heard over and over and over from certain people that they can't be in community groups or church cause all the people are like this or like that.  They come sporadically then realize that they struggle to connect.  I am finding that it is easy to throw stones over God's people.  They are struggling with sin, they are often a messed up bunch.  One ironic thing is that the beat against God's Bride is that they are all hypocrites. One is only a hypocrite if they announce they are someone that they truly are not.  Christians are forgiven not perfect, a distinction true hypocrites do not understand.  

There is a "GREATER PRINCIPLE" I have learned in parenting that applies to the church of God and the people in it.  This principle is not in the fact that someone is right or wrong...but that they are part of a family.   Let me explain:

If one of my kids eats the other kids candy it is wrong.  The other kid looks to me and says look what happens.  I tell the thieving child that they were wrong.  I may discipline them.  Usually I do not go out and buy them new candy.  It is unfortunate.  So the Greater Principle means, we don't always get back something.  But we are always in a family.  One of my kids wants to sing in the car....the other wants quiet.  You cannot have both.  But the GREATER PRINCIPLE is we remain a family.  My kids do love one another.  They are just immature.  And for that matter, I get on their nerves a good bunch.  The point is that the GREATER PRINCIPLE over-arches the inconsistency of personalities.  My son wants to hang out with this friend, my daughter this activity...but at some point we REMAIN family.

I think the greatest challenge we have as a church with all the incompleteness and frailty of humanity, is to love each other and DESIRE to be together and walk through this broken life until we become glorified.

To love the brethren means to be saved and it is a true mark of being a follower of Jesus.  Let's examine how we see each other (brethren) and kick the devil in the teeth by walking in the GREATER PRINCIPLE.