Who would you side with?

I love a good story, don’t you? I sure hope so because I’m about to share one. It’s a story my mom sent to me quite some time ago as an encouragement and reinforcement of my freedom from shame. I don’t know the source of the story, but it goes like this…
-------------------------------------------------------------

One night in a church service, a young woman felt the tug of God on her heart. She eagerly responded to God’s call and surrendered to Jesus as her Savior and Lord. The young woman had a very sordid past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But the change in her was evident after that night and she became a faithful member of the church.

Eventually, she began to serve in the church by teaching young children, and it was not long before this godly young woman caught the eye and heart of the pastor’s son. Their relationship and love for one another grew and they began to make wedding plans. That’s when the problems began.

You see, about half of the church body did not believe a woman with such a past was worthy of a pastor’s son. The members of the church began to argue and fight among themselves until finally, a meeting was held to settle the dispute. As various people made their arguments against the young couple’s relationship, tensions soared and the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became increasingly distressed about all the things being brought up about her past. When she could no longer bear the pain, she broke down and began to weep.

At that point, the pastor’s son had heard enough. He stood up and began to speak:

“My fiancée’s past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today, you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin, or not?”

Now it was the congregation’s turn to weep as they realized they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Love is the trademark of a believer. God's word says we are like a noisy gong or a clanging symbol without it (1 Cor. 13). Without love for others, our hearts quickly grow cold and our faith is useless. We become mechanical in our Christian walk; in which case, it isn’t a Christ-like walk at all.

Think about it this way. Have you ever been awakened late at night or early in the morning by a neighbor’s car alarm or continual honking horn? And were your thoughts something like, “BE QUIET! STOP ALREADY!”? Similarly, as we go through the motions of being good and doing good apart from a thriving relationship with Christ, we come across just like that loud, annoying car alarm that no one wants to hear or be around. Faith without love is a major turn-off.

May we never be accused of putting the blood of Jesus on trial. May we never be found siding with those who look down on a fellow believer. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. May we always be found siding with the blood of Jesus. He loves with a wild kind of love - a magnetic kind of love that draws people to himself. Let's love like that. Let's point people to him. When we fail at this kind of love and repent, his blood washes us clean. When we succeed at this kind of love, it's by the mighty power of his Spirit at work within us. REJOICE!

Make sure you always know whose side you're really on.