This Sunday is “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.” Because we are pro-life, many people assume that means we hate people that are pro-choice. In a conversation with one of our college students recently I was reminded of this tension. He told me that when he tells people that he is a Christian, he has to start by saying, “and I don’t hate you.” It’s sad to me that we are living in a day that a follower of Christ has to start a conversation with those words. Jesus said that people would know that we are His followers by the love we have for one another. I have no doubt that part of the problem is misinformation. If the enemy can convince people that believers are “haters,” it is a lot easier for them to hate back. However, sometimes we have given people the impression that hate is a part of our religion. Even when we say “Hate the sin but love the sinner,” we give the impression that getting rid of sin (and maybe even sinners) is our first priority. Our first priority is life. There’s no doubt that sin gets in the way of life, robs us of life and complicates life. But life is the first priority. Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. As Pastor Mead shared with us many years ago, the truth shines brightly in an atmosphere of grace. We are pro-life because we are first of all pro-Jesus, pro-love and pro-human! Let’s be careful to put first things first