Leviticus 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Recently I made the comment that the word if is an opportunity. My basis of thinking is rather Old Testament. Condition blessing are extended to those who act upon the if. If you will, God will. The OT provisions of God were performance based.

The if offer was very black and white. I like the black and white, it helps me define the line, the clear contrast. Now we who live in the period of grace discover ourselves in an era of mercy and grace wherein God loves us no matter how iffy we get. The demarcation line seems to have been blurred.

John 14:15a If ye love me,

If is now an opportunity to demonstrate love. If one loves, do we not care about those things our love cares about? Being one, in love, do we not share the same passions and concerns? If we love do we not do things together?

The greatest part of being in love with Jesus is knowing His love is perfect, even if ours is not. His love is not conditional. We do not have to do anything to earn His love, we have it. We do get iffy. We are not perfect and that is part of the journey we make with our Lord and Savior.

Ephesians 3:17-19 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Share with me your thoughts. How else can I discover if we are of one mind? Too often we hold our thoughts private to ourselves because of fear. We fear rejection. We fear loss of respect. We fear being wrong.

How can we be of one mind if we are not willing to concede that we might be wrong on any matter? Which is more important, to be right or to love? In the list above Paul encourages us to be perfect. I believe he means in love. He says to be of good comfort. I believe he means in love.

When it comes to the one mind, how can we be a mind in love? Because we are imperfect we must allow that our minds might not love perfectly. Having one mind cannot be a shared experience in solitude. If we love one another as we are asked, how can we hold our minds subject to any other control but that of Christ?

The problem comes when another does not agree. What do you do with that moment? How do you come to a point of agreement? Both minds must seek safe haven, a place where love abounds and only God is right. That means letting go of self and allowing God to shine truth into the moment. We have to put love first. If we can do that, what does it matter what was said, thought or felt?

1 John 4:18a There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:

Then we have no fear in being vulnerable towards one another.