August 14, 2011

Scripture is full of commands to love one another; in fact, all of the law can be summed up in the word love. We are to love one another and even to love our enemies. God intends for our love not to be merely abstract or sentimental, but real. Three of the images that God uses to describe the church capture aspects of how we are to love one another. The church is God's family, meaning that we have a unity in the gospel that overcomes all of our differences. The church is the body of Christ, meaning that we all have different functions, some of which may be more prominent than others, but all of us are needed, and we all need one another. The church is the temple of God, meaning that we exist for a far greater purpose than ourselves. We must take care of one another; this is commanded, and it provides a witness to the world, but most importantly, we do this because we love one another and we belong to one another.