Displaying items by tag: love your neighbor

Love has a broad definition. I love my dog, a delightful book, a warm spring day, spaghetti, my husband, and Jesus. I'm pretty sure you can tell, each one of those things I "love" is cherished on different levels.

After thirty years of marriage, the shared love between my husband and I is comfortable. Anchored in security we easily take each other for granted. Tired from life’s stresses, unguarded comments slip out, especially after long days at work. What should we do? Simply put we remember to love and to reflect Jesus in our relationship. I Corinthians 13:13 reminds us “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

A beautiful sentiment easily repeated but difficult to live out, especially in a tense and uncertain season.

Love is a double-edged sword. Untainted it provide the essence of life. Sadly, it also can bring forth the emotions of disappointment, rejection, and pain. Why is love so important to us? Why can't we just throw it aside and plunge into our career, school, or ministry? Simply put we NEED love. As Relational beings, God created us to thrive on unconditional love. Agape love, implanted in us by the Holy Spirit, grows when we nurture it. (Galatians 5:27)

Often isolating this chapter to marriage, we forget 1 Corinthians 13 applies to the church. However, it should be true for all our relationships. Friends, we need to own what is in the chapter of Scripture. To love unconditionally we need to recognize it and imitate it. In 1 Corinthians we find there are two camps. What love is and what love is not.

You see many of us don’t move into love as a permanent home. We move from one side to the other depending on our situation. We become offended by thoughtless actions or differing opinions. Driven by righting the wrong we move to the “love is not” camp. Acting out of an offense drives us to feel we need to defend God instead of being Christ-like, which requires us to love. 1 John 4:8 tells us "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." God does not need our defense; he requires our witness to love through difficult circumstances.

So how do we stay in the love camp? We actively and purposefully choose it. We choose to be there. When we find we have wandered or even bolted into the Love is not camp, we ask forgiveness pack up our gear and move back. Circumstances do not dictate our love location. Other’s actions do not dictate our love location. Jesus as our example, reminds us to choose the enduring love in patience, kindness, truth, perseverance, faithfulness, and hope.

I struggle to stay there but today I choose the love camp. Tomorrow I will ask myself where have you pitched your tent? When I recognize my location shifted, I will choose to move.Revive in us the deisre to love LORD! Are you with me?

As a little girl, my sisters and I received a new Easter outfit every year often including a new pair of white patent leather shoes. I felt grown up as the heals clicked down the church hallway. We paraded into church with our new dresses, Easter hats and our fancy shiny shoes. Those were special shoes, marking for the most important day of the year.

This year my Easter shoes looked different. Our church sponsored a stay-home mission trip. We served local organizations in various ways to help alleviate much of the added work that this difficult year brought.
Assigned to staining a deck and ramp of a warming center, I tried to work without inconveniencing the residents, but that proved more difficult than I thought. We could not lock the windowless door, so several people accidently stepped out onto the wet deck. Redirected to the other exit, most quietly respected the request.

At the end of the day, my white shoes were covered in red stain blotches. I sent pictures to my kids asking them to guess what I had done that day. Various guesses related to blood commenced, entertaining us with the silly humor we like to share.

But one moment from that day captured my attention.
Two men approached the ramp hesitating and unsure of what to do. I apologized for blocking their entrance, inconveniencing their normal routine.
One replied, “It’s okay, you are making our home beautiful.”

This caught me off guard, he said “home”. Home implies permanence, a dwelling place for family. A place I regarded as temporary for those suffering setbacks, a place of rescue and even sanctuary but not home. His comment humbled me and reminded me of how little I really knew of other’s sufferings.

Holy instances like these, cause one to pause and reflect. Straining to see behind the supernatural veil, I captured a glimpse of Jesus in that moment.
Jesus, as Messiah, had no home but He abided in the Father and we abide in the Christ. When we serve the least of these, we serve Jesus, and we are truly home. Discussing this with my son, he drew my attention to Psalm 91:1 “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty”

That man’s pleasant response reminded me that he was not the only one at home in that instance. I too, found my home there because Jesus was there in that man’s words. As I write this, I am reminded that maybe I mislabeled the needy person in that circumstance. Truly after a difficult year, I was the least of these and this man’s humble spark of gratitude in a life of hardship, deeply ministered to me.
Now, my stain-spattered Easter shoes remind me of the promise that my eternal home will always be in Jesus.

Are you frustrated with the fractured society that has infiltrated the church? Anger, conflict, and division ripped through our country this last year. People were categorized allowing us to dehumanize them. BUT they are human - created in the image of God. We need to see each person as individuals. Young people look to their elders for example and accuse us of apparent hypocrisy. Jesus calls us to restore others – repairers of the breach in the King James. Isaiah 58:12 NLT Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. 

As I scroll through social media, my stomach flipflops to see the vitriol written. Brutal critiques of the “other side” continue to flow. Criticism from younger people bring tears to my eyes because they are partially correct. Offensive words put us on the defense, but I implore you to look beyond the acidic words and see the pain behind. 

Together we can open an amicable discourse that encourages freedom to respectfully express opinions. We can each be the repairer of the breach we see in our communities. Where do we begin? 

1. We repent of any offense we are carrying. Ideologies divide our theology and that must stop. Humbly we go before our Lord and admit we do not have all the answers. Young and old in the church disagree about important topics but not the Gospel. If Jesus is Lord, we belong to the same family. We pray and live Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. NLT 
2. Listen to those that disagree with you. Not online, but in person or on the phone. Listen to the heart behind the opinion, the depth of knowledge behind it may surprise you. Our goal becomes understanding, building relationship and trust. Proverbs 12:15 Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. NLT
3. Instead of correcting their opinion, tell them why they are important to you and your community. Ask them how you can pray for them. Where are they struggling, how can you be an answer to their needs? Encourage them through Scripture, not to correct but to grow together. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. NLT 
4.  Throughout your discourse, clearly state your mutual faith in Jesus. Our unity rests on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the nonnegotiable center of the relationship; Jesus is the Lord of our life. Centered on Him nothing else matters, let Him teach each of us to be more like Him. Galatians 1:11-12 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. NLT 
5. Respectfully disagree if you feel it necessary. Make it clear, all opinions can be discussed if they are stated respectfully both by you and your young friend. No opinion should be held so tight that it damages the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Proverbs 18:2 Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. NLT 

 Each generation holds important characteristics to cherish in one another. Combining them together, the Holy Spirit interweaves us in ways beyond our understanding. 

1.     Traditionalists bring wisdom of their experience. 
2.     Baby Boomers get it done with their strong work ethic. 
3.     Generation X join us with their ability to problem solve. 
4.     Millennials strong desire to care for their community empower us to reach out. 
5.     Generation Z’s pragmatic approach to life help us to ease into working in a diverse workforce. 

 It is true that Jesus said He would bring division (Luke 12:51-53) but the division occurs in recognizing the deity of Christ. We are divided by believers of the Gospel and those that reject it. Within the faith we need each other and we need to initiate the restoration of our church homes.

An inward revival radiates out. You can’t help it because the joy of the Lord bubbles out flowing onto anyone that passes. This is who I want to be in 2021, no not just want CALLED!

My hope does not rest in the current circumstances of our world. Darkness wants to rule over us and tell us this situation or that situation will steal something from us. Honestly, I’m not interested in the opinion of man, whether I agree with the opinion or not. In the long run it doesn’t matter. My hope resides in the promise that God is with me. No one can take that from me.

I believe God told me last summer to go and serve Him no matter how I feel. He can protect me but there may be “deep waters” I will have to go through, and He will be there.   (Isaiah 43:2) So I served, one eye on the circumstance and the other on the Lord.

Romans 12:2 inspires me to get both eyes on the Lord and away from the dark. It now seems customary to share negative opinions, showering them over whomever is nearby. I repent of any way I have contributed to this and ask God to transform me. Our mind holds the key to renewal when we willingly surrender our thoughts to Jesus.

Reading through this verse let’s dig in and apply it. When we daily allow Holy Spirit to transform our way of thinking we learn to live God’s will. This good plan, Agathos in Greek, holds a promise to not only possess a good nature but a useful one. A usefulness that bubbles over with joyful and honorable actions. This alone is complete we don’t have to do anything else and others will notice the change.

With that I am letting going of criticism and embracing altruism. Although not necessarily the antithesis of one another the first often hampers the  care for others. Revive my spirit Lord so that I can revive others.

Father forgive me for my wrong thinking. Help me to shed my cultural mindset and to daily look to YOU for renewal. Mold my heart and mind to you so that I am empowered to love the way YOU love. In Jesus Name, AMEN

Are we living upside down during this time of crisis? This reminds me of a song my kids sang in elementary school. Jumping around the room they whole heartedly sang about God’s upside down kingdom. Our Kid’s Church pulsated with the words reminding our children that the last would be first (Matthew 19:30). My heart warmed as I heard them sing this at home and in the car. Proud to know they learned a complex cornerstone of God’s word from a simple song, I believed they lived it. Putting others first, loving one another, a directive Jesus exemplified for each of us, now feels more complex. As I’ve aged, I realize life is not that black and white.

In our current situation, it may feel difficult to recognize which way is up. As a nation we sacrifice for the physical wellbeing of our neighbors. Do you see we are loving our neighbors in this way? Yet, this isolation still feels sideways. This extroverted woman needs her people. I’m thankful for my husband and daughter who are here with me and for the technology that is connecting me with many of you. It is not enough but it will have to do.

Stretched to the extreme limits, our healthcare workers, grocery store employees, and other essential workers put their life on the line each day. I sit in my living room and feel the imbalance of our situation, should I do more? Doing more may contribute to the problem. Lord, we need Your wisdom in this time.

We don’t know the future but we do know the One who holds it. I believe that this will impact our lives, changing the trajectory if we allow the Lord to lead. Mourning will come to those that experience loss of loved ones, physical difficulties, economic stress and the apparent loss of dreams, especially in the young. We need to be there to help pick up the pieces. I am reminded to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming season.

Now is the time to stand on the foundation of our faith. Recognizing Jesus as this foundation, fully surrendered to His leadership, we will see farther and understand our direction of service. Trust HIM, Jesus is holding you in ways our finite minds cannot comprehend. Remember our Lord’s departing words in John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (NLT) The Holy Spirit comes to us as our advocate and teacher, when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. As new or seasoned believers, remember that Jesus will shepherd us as the Spirit advises and teaches us in each step we are to take. Simply ask to be willing, we follow the lead of our God.