Love believes the best

How do we then begin to pursue love in our actions and thoughts of others?

With the abundance of information we have on our social media platforms, it is easier for us to jump into assumptions and form our judgment about a person based on what we are seeing on the surface, their online social behavior.

While it is true that our tendency to judge a person can be a more widespread issue in our online social connections, we all know that mere face-to-face social interaction can only do so much when it comes to keeping our judgmental attitude and wrong assumptions at bay, let alone debunked. We all need a change of heart and mind.

Love believes the best

Part of loving others as God called us to do is to be quick to believe the best in them and not to judge (even if this side of the spectrum is our greater tendency.)

This does not mean we get easily fooled or be tolerant of others’ sins. It means we should be champions in seeking truth and restoration. It often takes the form of giving the benefit of the doubt, thinking rightly of others based on the facts available without going beyond that. It may also mean finding what we can appreciate about a person (even when it’s hard to find) and refraining from expecting too much from other people. It can even be as deep as cutting a bitter root off of your heart.

But all of these can truly be a challenge. It may be, at times, impossible, but take heart there is a Way for us to love and believe the best in others in capacities that are beyond us.

A change of heart and mind

How do we then begin to pursue love in our actions and thoughts of others, and believing the best in others? What will be our motivation?

Begin by keeping, the Author of Love, Jesus, in heart and mind. Be motivated by His love.

This may seem such a simplistic and impractical answer but it takes a kind of heart and mind transformed and renewed by the Truth (Christ) to debunk all our wrong assumptions about love and our relationships with others.

The truth is, we deserve to be judged and condemned by the Almighty, who sees and knows the ugly depths of our hearts. But He, the Holy Judge, to whom we sinned against, came to our rescue, graciously extended His forgiveness to restore us to the right relationship with God. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) His death satisfied God’s judgment that we so deserve. In Him, we are forgiven and restored. We now have a new life and resolve to love others selflessly.

It is through the times when we remember the love poured out to us in Christ are we moved to believe the best in others, and love them deeply, with compassion and kindness. In Christ, we are called to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)