Love Bears All Things

Captured by Mitchell Royel in the heart of the Fashion District—this moment holds a raw, unfiltered energy that speaks volumes. Now playing: "In Loving Memory" by Chester Lockhart, setting the perfect tone for reflection and connection. We lift up our person in Christ, Chester, in prayer today. May Christ genuinely touch his heart, bring healing to his soul, and surround him with grace and peace. Lord, we ask that Your love and light guide him through every step, restoring hope and strength. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I want to share a moment that shook me deep, a moment that forced me to confront something raw inside myself—something we all wrestle with but rarely admit. Not long ago, I found myself sitting in a church that, honestly, reminded me of an Agoura-based hotel church—sleek, polished, filled with people from worlds far removed from the small hometown church I grew up in. I was there with my family, alongside the family of a music industry executive. Whispers floated through the crowd—rumors that the Kardashian family was behind this church. That alone made me pause. I was drawn in, captivated by the spectacle, but something felt off. It wasn’t home.

Then there was the band. A young blonde guitar player, about my age, who reminded me of someone from my past. His look, his body, his whole presence—it stirred something ugly in me. I caught myself rolling my eyes, feeling repulsed, judging him harshly. I sent vague insults about him to a co-producer I trust, someone who’s walked through her own valleys. She told me something that pierced my heart.

She reminded me what Pastor Mark Driscoll often tells us: “We are not called to be judges of one another, but to be ministers of grace. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” She said that when we gossip or carry the sins of others in our hearts, we are actually paying a price that is not ours to pay. Their faults, their struggles—they belong between them and Christ alone.

She quoted Romans 14:12, “So then each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” We are not the judge of our brother or sister. And James 4:11 warns us, “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law.” When we judge, we become lawbreakers ourselves, stepping into a role reserved for God alone.

She reminded me of 1 Corinthians 13:7, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. When we gossip, we are not loving; we are tearing down, not building up.

She also shared Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” But when we gossip, we take on the burden of another’s sin, and it weighs heavy on our souls.

Her words echoed Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged.” The measure we use will be measured to us. We must be careful how we see and speak about each other.

Her takeaway from Pastor Mark Driscoll’s teaching was clear: the young man I judged so harshly—his sins, his struggles, his faults—are not mine to carry. They are his between him and Christ. The image I saw, the hypocrisy I thought I detected, was a mirror reflecting my own brokenness.

We all have shadows, all have faults. None of us are without sin. Romans 3:23 reminds us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So why do we so quickly cast stones at one another?

Instead, we are called to be a community of grace. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” That forgiveness is the foundation of our relationships.

So I challenge us all today: when you feel that judgment rising, when you catch yourself whispering or rolling your eyes, remember Jesus’ words in John 8:7, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone.” None of us are without sin.

Let us choose grace. Let us choose love. Let us choose to carry each other’s burdens lightly, freeing ourselves from the weight of judgment and gossip. Because brothers and sisters, that’s what the Kingdom looks like. That’s what we’re called to live out.

Amen.

-Pastor Mitchell Royel