In tolerance, we are asked to give nothing away. It costs us nothing to simply allow people to be who they are, where they are, and stay in the state in which they find themselves. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. This makes us vulnerable and open to possible pain and discomfort. Those whom we seek to love could take advantage of us. It is easy to see why tolerance seems a bit more popular these days.
Jesus could have tolerated the religious hypocrites of his day. He could have tolerated the Romans who oppressed the Jews. He could have simply tolerated the tax collectors, prostitutes, and outcasts of his day.
Instead, he loved them. He made himself vulnerable and open to pain. When we look a the cross, we see what can be the true price for love. It is easy to see why a policy of tolerance looks more desirable to many.
“𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕?” 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎, “𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.”
-Matthew 22:36-40-Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS, 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝
