Something that has been on my mind a lot recently is love. What is love? How do you love? Who do you love? What do you believe about love? All questions that have been running through my mind.
We are called to love people, but so often I see in the lives of Christians such hatred toward those who are different. Sure, we can love an orphan or a widow in a third world country… But we can’t seem to love those who are gay or those who have committed adultery in our very own town. We may say “sure I love that person… I mean, I don’t hate them” but do we really? Do we love them with pure unconditional love?
Sometimes we decide we are better than other people because of what they’ve done. That’s not love. I used to fall into this trap often. I would see those people in high school who would get drunk and smoke weed and sleep around and I would put myself above them. I would love them in the southern “bless your heart” sort of way where I would just pretend to love them but really be judging them from behind. I pretended that I was better than them, which I’m not. Just because their sins were more open to the public than mine, doesn’t mean we’re not the same in Gods eyes.
A lesson that I’ve had to learn is that there are no good people. There’s just sinners (us) and God. Jesus was the only good person to walk this earth, and we know he wasn’t a person at all. He’s God in the flesh.
So what does this mean? It means that we need to get off our judgmental backsides and start loving people. There is no scale. God doesn’t love according to actions or thoughts. His love is abounding, overflowing, and equal. So call me Hitler, because in Gods heart, we’re loved just the same.
Love does not mean we have to agree with everyone’s lifestyle. We don’t have to agree with or participate in the choices others make. It is not our place in this world to judge. It’s not our place to hate. We are called to LOVE. Love knows no boundaries. Unconditional love means that no matter what you are going to love that person because they are Gods child. He created them. He formed them in their moms tummy. He made them and all of their beautiful and intricate details. And He loves them. So why is it so hard for us to do the same?
I know saying this is easier than doing this. I fail at this still and I’ve been working on it for a long time now. But I don’t want this blog to be something that you just read and then forget about. I want it to get stuck in your head so you can’t stop thinking about loving people. I want action to take place. I want hearts to be softened. I want to challenge you to show true unconditional love. To figure out what that actually means in your life.
You showing this abounding love could be just what someone needs to figure out who Jesus is, instead of drawing them farther away from him. Us Christians have a bad rep of being judgmental hypocrites. I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I want to be known for. So be known for love, in its purest most overflowing form. Be love.
Just an update on my race, I have a new team!! I am on team BeanSprout which is my first coed team of the race. I am so excited to be apart of this new team and figure out where Jesus is in all of us! Also, my squad is doing all squad month here in Cainta Rizal. We are working with an organization called Kids International Ministries (KIM) and it is the most amazing place. They have tons of ministry opportunities and if we can’t find a ministry we want to plug into we have the opportunity to create our own ministry! This place is truly all Jesus and I am so blessed to be a part of it!
