Love for the Saints!

Ephesians 1:15 -Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

I find it interesting that when Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus that he mentions their faith in the Lord Jesus and love to all the saints. And yet, not!

I’ve done some traveling in my life, and as I have traveled and met people of like precious faith, there was almost always an instant bond. It’s like going to your parents’ hometown, meeting a distant cousin, and feeling as if you’ve always had a close relationship. That’s how faith in the Lord and love for the saints manifest!

In my Logos app, I read the following statement from a commentary on the verse:

“Nor is this faith a matter only of their personal relation to their Lord. It affects their conduct towards all the saints…Otherwise his meaning must be that their faith was evident, not only in their inward spiritual lives but in their relationships with all their fellow-Christians as well.”

Isn’t that true? Our faith in the Lord Jesus affects our conduct towards all the saints! On the job, in the church, at school, wherever we find ourselves and other believers, our conduct towards them should reflect our faith.

I worked with a woman whose faith didn’t control her conduct towards people, let alone other believers! And as time went on, people began to doubt the authenticity of her faith! And yet, Paul commends the church at Ephesus because their faith in the Lord was demonstrated in their love towards the saints.

Jesus said, “by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another!” John 13:35

I think Jesus’ words give us the best directive available to the believer, people will know we belong to Him, when we have love for each other!

It’s as the commentator wrote, “their faith was evident, not only in their inward spiritual lives but in their relationships with all their fellow-Christians as well”.

Well, truth be told, that’s not always easy, but Paul helped us by telling us “that as much as possible we are to live at peace with all men!” (Romans 12:18) He had enough personal relationships to know that some people are just plain difficult to get along with. But we love and work on it anyway!

What am I saying? When we have a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it shows up in our relationships! All of them! If you are having issues in your relationships, you may be having issues with your faith! Wonderful Jesus!