My soul clings to you,Your right hand upholds me.
My heart is broken when in upholding truth; we walk away from our brothers and sisters. We should guard truth and sound doctrine with all that we have. I believe this strongly and with all my heart. These are the words of Jesus, himself. Unity, truth, and doctrine are never separated in the Bible. And the Bible is very clear that those men who lead must have sound doctrine. But in upholding truth, we must not exclude believers. If we believe God’s word in all things, we must believe what it says about loving our brothers and sisters. We cannot neglect the doctrine of “brothers and sisters”, in order to uphold another doctrine. We must hold all of God’s word. And if one believes and obeys the Gospel, then they are our brother or sister, and we must love them dearly (1 Corinthians 13). It is an unconditional acceptance along with a love that does not settle for less. If they are Christian, they are part of who we are. They are part of our body and we must not cut them off, but instead must nurture them and love them. We must pour into their lives. We must also remember that they too are part of the body and we need them. We must not let pride keep us from learning from them. I need them to be a part of my life and to pour into my life. They are there for my good. I often have told others, I need you, because you are part of my body; you are a part of who I am; you have to be a part of my life.
“Iron sharpens iron.” This is messy; I know in my struggle I have often felt like leaving my brothers and sisters. But it is good and sweet to walk with them. And I know for me, I often feel, how could anything part me from those I love so much and are so much a part of who I am in the Body of Christ. We are a part of this body by grace alone and have nothing to boast or be proud of.
