Daily Devotion
Less Tolerance, More Agape Love
By: Marissa Wolf
“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.”
James 2:1
Partiality can spring forth because we may tend to look at others based on their appearance, status, wealth, etc, and how that affects their identity. God looks at the heart. (See: 1 Samuel 16:7). Where there’s partiality, the other side of the coin can be tolerance of those who are on the opposite end of the partiality spectrum and neither are forms of agape love. Partiality and tolerance of other people are found everywhere: in the workplace, in the school, in the church, and even in our own households and families to name a few examples. One example of partiality and tolerance of other people is that one might fly overseas to share the love of Christ to others in a third world country, but upon returning, makes no effort to share the love of Christ with the people in their own church congregation or even their next door neighbors. On the other hand, some might share the love of Christ with only a select few. Why is this? Shouldn’t God’s love be shown to everyone, not just our close circles? What about our next door neighbor two houses down the street? Don’t they need to know about the love of Christ too? What about the one person who comes to church every once in a while that always seems to be by themselves? When was the last time you’ve reached out to them? What about the widow who just lost their spouse whether it was recently or years ago? When was the last time you opened your house for hospitality to share with someone what the love of Christ is? We all need God’s agape love and sometimes we take the people in our own church congregation and our own neighborhood for granted. Sometimes we just need to be shown reminders of God’s agape love when we are going through less-than-favorable circumstances. We’re all people who are struggling, we’re all going through our own trauma, we’re all people who have sin in our lives, and we’re all hypocrites who have fallen short of the glory of God. (See: Romans 3:23 and Romans 3:10). So why can’t we love everyone the same with God’s agape love? God’s agape love is not meant to be used for partiality or to be used with ulterior motives for personal gain, it is for everyone!
Partiality and tolerance of other people are subtle sins that are actually quite dangerous and it’s something that all of us can be prone to doing daily whether we realize it or not. Just because a sin is subtle does not mean that it’s less deadly of a sin or a sin that we can get away with. A subtle sin is still a sin regardless of the subtlety of it, and more often than not that makes it more dangerous than obvious sins. When we are practicing partiality and tolerance of other people we are walking in darkness. (See: Galatians 5:16-26, 1 John 1:4-10, and Matthew 6:24). Do we truly love others as God loves them? Or are we more prone to giving them the bare minimum of God’s love?
Maybe one person did something and it got on our nerves and now they’re officially on our “tolerate only list?” Maybe they’ve hurt us and it caused major trauma in our life so now we tolerate them from afar? There is a time and a place for Biblically set boundaries, (See: Romans 16:17-18, Ephesians 5:11 and Proverbs 4:14-15,) but what are our intentions behind setting them? Did God tell us to, or are we using this as an excuse to justify our avoidance of someone based on our perceptions of them?
When we tolerate someone, we often look at them, see how much of a problem they are or how much they bug us, and mentally lock the door hoping that they don’t come knocking. This is not Biblical agape love. This is not holiness. In fact, most of us have experienced being on both sides of the partiality/tolerance of others spectrum whether or not we are the ones showing partiality and actively participating in tolerance of others or we are the ones unfortunately being on the receiving end - which inevitably hurts. Partiality and tolerance breeds nothing but division, hurt, and disappointment and this is what the devil seeks. (See: 1 Corinthians 14:33).
Most times when people disappoint us, it is due to an expectation or a pedestal that we’ve placed them on. This is not a good thing to do. We shouldn’t be exalting others no matter the status of the individual or what the individual has or has not going for them. This isn’t right. (See: Leviticus 26:1 and Exodus 20:3-5). When we start looking at others through the devil’s eyes and through an attitude of “What can they do for me?”, this is dangerous and sinful behavior and if we ever find ourselves exhibiting this in our own lives, we must repent immediately.
It’s time we stop seeing people how the world and our flesh desire to see them. It’s time we stop viewing others with a self-focused agenda. It’s time to boldly step up in faith and see others how God does, to love others how God does. This is just one form of revival starting from within. We need to stop serving our own flesh and get out of the victim mentality and stop chasing after pity. We need to bring more of the One, true Biblical God back in this world and choose to bring more of His joy even when we are in the worst of earthly circumstances instead of choosing to spew more of the devil's venom. (See: Joshua 24:15, Luke 9:23, and Matthew 6:33).
If we are tolerating people or loving them with an ulterior motive then we are walking in unrighteousness and sin and we must repent! (See: Acts 3:19 and James 4:7-10). We aren’t loving them as Christ loves them. In fact, the kind of love that we are loving them with is false. We must bring our sins to the Lord, repent and seek forgiveness, and move forward in holiness. We aren’t called to hold onto grudges or to dwell in bitterness or anger. While there certainly is a place for anger, it must never be sinful. (See: Ephesians 4:26). We are called to let them go by casting our cares unto the Lord for He cares for us. (See: 1 Peter 5:7 and Psalm 55:22).
It can be so easy to give into partiality and tolerance of others due to a variety of reasons, but just because it’s something we can do, doesn’t mean that it’s something we should do. Remember, we are called to glorify the Lord in all that we do. (See: Colossians 3:23-24). And how can we be glorifying Him when we are practicing the subtle sins of partiality and tolerance of others? This isn’t honoring the Lord and it most definitely isn’t glorifying Him either.
Partiality and tolerance of others are the ways of the old man which we are called to put off. God calls us to put on the new man. (See: Ephesians 4:22-24). We are to no longer fashion ourselves with the ways of the old man. We are God’s obedient children, and to be obedient to Christ, means to walk in holiness and to be holy as God is holy. Jesus said “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (See: John 14:15). He isn’t calling us to be self-righteous, but to be holy in all (emphasis on the all here) manner of conversation. (See: 1 Peter 1:14-16). The new man is created after God in righteousness and true holiness not in selfish intentions for selfish gains. God also calls us to lay aside all evil, partiality and tolerance of others is included under the category of evil. (See: 1 Peter 2:1-3).
Will you choose to lay aside all evil including partiality and the tolerance of others? Have you officially put off the old man or are you still running back to it like a dog to its own vomit? How do you see people? Do you see them through fleshly eyes or how God sees them? Will you choose to keep being victimized or will you choose to be a victor in Christ? What does your heart look like and what flows from it?
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
John 13:34-35
