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EN(dur)ANCE by Robin Gudal

They will know we are Christians by our love. I recently was in a situation where if I had not chosen to love I likely would not have done well with my opening nine words.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” — John 13:35, NIV.

“We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that all unity will one day be restored.
Chorus: “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love. We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand/And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land. We will work with each other/We will work side by side/And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride. All praise to the father, from whom all things come, and all praise to Christ Jesus, his only son. And all praise to the spirit who makes us one.” — They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” or “We Are One in the Spirit,” Christian hymn written in the 1960s by Fr. Peter Scholtes. Inspired by John 13:35.

I remember singing this song in the late ’70s. As I sat in church recently and we sang, I fought back tears. The words are timeless wisdom. We’ve become angry, often hurtful, and at times not honoring his kingdom people. I needed this as I prepared to be in this challenging situation.

Many years ago, I read a story of a father and son who had become estranged because the son had and was making some very unhealthy and unwise decisions. The dad had stuck to his guns on what he valued, and it cost him the relationship. After his wife died and he was feeling alone, he reached out to the son and made the conscious decision just to love.
As the story unfolded, I learned an important lesson and coined a phrase I’ve lived by since, “Sometimes the relationship is more important than being right.”

So, in the situation I found myself, I chose to love. Jesus showed up (as he always does) and I believe he was honored in my actions.

Why does kindness seem revolutionary? When did we let hate get so ordinary? Let’s turn it around, flip the script. Judge slow, love quick. God help us get revolutionary. What would Jesus do?

“He would love first,” — “Revolutionary,” Josh Wilson.

Robin (Beckman) Gudal is intentional in life, a wife, a momma, a nana, a friend and a flawed and imperfect follower of Jesus.