We are all imperfect human beings, fallible and prone to sin—and that is why Christlike love is so important in the church. In today’s devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef clarifies the true Christian concept of love.
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[00:00:00] You are listening to My Devotional, the daily devotional from Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading
[00:00:06] The Way.
[00:00:08] Exhibiting Christlike Love by Dr. Michael Youssef
[00:00:13] We are all imperfect human beings, fallible and prone to sin, and that's why Christlike
[00:00:18] love is so important to the church.
[00:00:21] Because we are imperfect, we must learn to accept one another and tolerate one another
[00:00:26] in all our many imperfections.
[00:00:29] Because we are imperfect, we must learn to love one another with genuine agape love.
[00:00:35] Because we are imperfect, we must learn to forgive one another.
[00:00:38] And because we are imperfect, we must hold one another accountable.
[00:00:43] The culture around us embraces a false notion of tolerance and love that says, if you
[00:00:48] love somebody, you have to accept all their sins, their character flaws and their godless
[00:00:53] lifestyle.
[00:00:54] You must never correct them, never rebuke them, never challenge them, never encourage
[00:00:58] them to repent and live righteously.
[00:01:02] Love means tolerating whatever anyone does, including their sinful and destructive behavior.
[00:01:08] That's the world's notion of love.
[00:01:10] And if you violate that notion, if you confront or rebuke someone for a lifestyle of sin,
[00:01:15] suddenly you'll become the bad guy, the bigot, the hater, the reactionary, the
[00:01:19] extremist.
[00:01:20] According to the world, the out and proud sinners are good and the godly are evil.
[00:01:27] Right is wrong, and wrong is right.
[00:01:30] We are living in Orwellian times.
[00:01:33] But God's word teaches that admonishing one another in a spirit of humility demonstrates
[00:01:38] Christian love, as someone once said, if you love, you level.
[00:01:45] In Ephesians 4.15 Paul caused this speaking the truth in love.
[00:01:50] Paul's not telling us to go around and correct and confront our fellow Christians for every
[00:01:54] little thing they do wrong.
[00:01:56] But if someone is straying from the truth, or wondering from the faith, or engaging in
[00:02:00] a lifestyle of sin and self-destruction, we should love that person enough to sit down,
[00:02:06] reason, pray, and even weep with that person over the tragedy of sin.
[00:02:13] That's what it truly means to love one another.
[00:02:16] Let's pray together.
[00:02:18] Father help us to internalize this precious concept of Christian love.
[00:02:22] May we seek to build up our brothers and sisters in Christ by pointing them to You and
[00:02:27] exhorting them to Christ's likeness, even as we've received the same counsel.
[00:02:33] May we all receive and give admonishment with humility and with love, remembering the
[00:02:39] grace we've received.
[00:02:41] We pray this in the name of Jesus.
[00:02:43] Amen.
[00:02:45] To take a deeper dive into today's devotional topic, check the show notes for links
[00:02:50] to additional resources.
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[00:02:59] My Devotional is a ministry of leading the way with Dr. Michael Yusef.
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