Only If Christians

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.  Leviticus, Chapter 19, verses 17-18.

This is one of many passages where God tells us that we are to love each other.  He doesn’t put a stipulation in there that says, “You are to love each other ONLY IF: they have the right skin color, they have the same sexual preference, they come from the right side-of-the tracks or they have similar beliefs and goals.  We are to be Christians and love everyone! 

There are people that don’t believe in God.  Although, I don’t have to support their beliefs because there is only One God, I’m to love them, to be considerate of them and to not hold grudges against them because their beliefs are different than mine.  If I’m an Only If Christian, resenting them or treating them in a less than kind manner, I’m the one who isn’t being a good example of how Christ works in my life.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.