Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is patient and kind. It isn’t jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. It doesn’t insist on its own way, and it doesn’t keep a running tally of wrongs. Real love sticks with people through the highs and lows—it never gives up, never loses faith, and never stops hoping. That’s a beautiful picture, but it’s also a difficult one, because it challenges us to move beyond how society often defines love.
In today’s world, love is frequently confused with agreement. If you don’t affirm every choice someone makes, you’re labeled as unloving or even hateful. I get it—no one wants to feel judged or excluded. But somewhere along the way, we started equating approval with compassion. That’s not biblical love. Charlie Kirk, in his cultural commentary, has often pointed out that our society has lost the ability to disagree without division. While I may not agree with him on everything, I think he’s right about this: when we make agreement the price of love, we shrink love down to something shallow and fragile.
Biblical love, on the other hand, is sturdy. John Wesley described love as the holy temper of the Christian life—the choice to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It’s not a mushy feeling or blind acceptance; it’s an active decision to will the very best for another person. And the best for any of us, friend or enemy, is reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. That’s what love longs for: not just that people feel good in the moment, but that they are drawn into a relationship that changes eternity.
But here’s where it gets tricky. Loving people in this way doesn’t mean approving of everything they do. In fact, Jude 1:22–23 makes it clear: “Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by pulling them from the fire. Show mercy, but do so with caution, hating the sin that contaminates their lives.” That’s strong language—mercy and hatred of sin in the same breath. It tells me that love doesn’t look away from sin, but it doesn’t turn away from people either.
Bob Goff once wrote, “Love difficult people. You’re one of them.” That line makes me smile every time because I recognize I am one of them. I mean—we’re all messy, all stumbling, all in need of grace. We all make mistakes, I know I do, I often comment “If I’m breathing, I’m probably screwing up something.” And, if God waited to love us until we got everything right, none of us would stand a chance. But God doesn’t confuse our sins with our worth. He sent Jesus to rescue us precisely because His love is stronger than our failures.
So how do we live this out? It starts small. It means praying for the coworker whose choices you don’t agree with but whose value in God’s eyes is infinite. It means offering kindness to a neighbor even when their lifestyle doesn’t reflect your own values. It means teaching our children that love is not flimsy tolerance, but fierce compassion that wants what’s truly best for others. And yes, it means being brave enough to say, “I love you, but I can’t celebrate this choice,” without walking away from the person.
Our culture may tell us that love without approval is hate, but Scripture tells a different story. Love is patient, kind, truthful, and enduring. Love rescues. Love points people back to God. Love makes us willing to get spaghetti sauce on the walls and to step into the messiness of people’s lives, not because it’s easy but because Jesus did it for us first.
So, here’s the question I want to leave with you: What would it look like in your life this week to love someone fully without affirming everything they do? What would it look like to reflect Christ’s love—truthful, merciful, and sacrificial—in a way that makes people curious about the God you serve?
Because at the end of the day, love that never looks away is the love that changes the world.