“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” — 1 John 3:18 (NIV)
There is a kind of love that doesn’t wait for things to be easy or clear. It doesn’t flinch in the face of disagreement or run from discomfort. This kind of love is not loud, but it is brave. It feeds the hungry even when the table is full of people who don’t agree on theology. It clothes the needy even when the headlines say otherwise. It holds fast to the deeper truth—that love is not a feeling or a philosophy, but a choice made again and again, especially in moments of confusion and tension.
This is the love our world needs. Not the sentimental kind, but the difficult kind. The kind that keeps showing up when it would be easier to withdraw. The kind that listens without defensiveness and acts without applause. It is the love that remains when conversations grow uncomfortable, and when we are tempted to walk away. It is not blind to difference, but it chooses compassion over contempt. This love leads us past judgment and into service, past fear and into solidarity.
Let us encourage one another to live into this difficult love. Not perfectly, but courageously. Not because it is easy, but because it is right. Let us remind each other that the call of Christ is not always comfortable, but it is always clear: love your neighbor, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and do it all with grace. In a world full of division, this love may be the most powerful witness we can offer.