My Disciples Have Love for One Another

A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:34-35

A lot of people don’t love Gypsies. Even in the supposedly tolerant Netherlands a prominent politician is attacking “Romanian & Bulgarian immigrants,” i.e. Romany. But Christians aren’t supposed to be like “a lot of people.” We’re supposed to be like Christ and love each other without first weighing costs vs. potential benefits.

But face it, there aren’t a lot of obvious benefits to loving one another when the other is Gypsy. As economic conditions worsen, so does the position of minorities like the Romany. Do you and I dare love people targeted by legally elected Neo-Nazis? If we do, what does that love look like? Firstly, that love looks communal. We love one another. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Romany Team work within communities of missional practice to share Christ’s love with Romany. This week of prayer will highlight some of those missional communities to explore ways we can “have love for one another.”

Prayer requests:
--Teach us to receive as well as give love, Romany as well as non-Romany;
--Show us how to we need to love in the face of rising hate, and give us the courage to act out that love;
--Thank You for giving us the living example and the on-going power to love.

Note: Romany, Romani, and Roma are all common terms for the same group.