for training camp, we were asked to memorize three verses before arriving & wow the Lord is already working.
this morning as I was writing and rewriting the verses, the Lord revealed such truth to me.
“by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”
John 13:35
lately, I have realized just how much hate can come from social media.
+ today the Lord sat with me and taught me that no one will ever see Jesus through hate.
we are called to love a broken world.. not to be of the world, but to love the people in front of us.
I have learned that : people are simply, people.
regardless of race, sex, religion, beliefs, appearance, sexual orientation, etc.
people are people.
and we are called to love them. the Lord whispered to me this morning, “how will this broken world ever see me, if all christians do is broadcast hate and discrimination?”
and I agree with my Father.
the church has become a place of fingers pointing in your face rather than a hospital for sinners.
and that breaks my heart : to think that we have denied someone their relationship with Jesus, because we couldn’t get over their sin.
Jesus sought me out when I was in darkness, He rescued me when I was covered in my own sin and shame, He left everything to find me, a sinner.
something Jesus revealed to me about himself : He doesn’t pick and choose who can receive grace and who can’t.
He freely gives it. He passes it out to those who accept it, to those who want it.
He simply offers grace and forgiveness. to everyone. to anyone. to the needy. the broken. the sinful. the murderers. the adulterers. the lustful. the lonely. the gay.
so… who are we to decide that someone is “too sinful” for forgiveness?
so I will say again : how do we expect a lost and dying world to see Jesus, when we conform to the patterns of this world? When we pass out hate, when we condemn others for their wrongs, when we call others out without loving them through it.
yes, we are called to call each other out, to point each other to the Savior.
but we are called to do so with love and redemption in mind.
we are not more worthy of grace than someone else.
my sin looks different than yours, yours looks different than mine, the gay guys sin looks different than mine, the man standing behind the prison bars; his sin looks different than mine.
but sin is sin.
and if I was forgiven. if I was redeemed. if I was set free. anyone can be.
we are called to love. not to hate.
hate the sin. hate the world. hate satan.
but I’m learning that nothing is solved by hating a person, for once I was just as shameful as them.
thank you sweet savior, for grace and redemption that does not come with a list of qualifications. thank you for freely giving what I do not deserve.
