The other morning I was sitting in my sister’s house, and I heard her ask my nephew the question, “If you could tell something to everyone in the world, what would it be?” Without hesitating he said, “Um, that I love them!” I was taken aback. I couldn’t believe in the simplicity and complete truth of his answer. My sister had asked him a question out of their “question jar” they have. She told me she thought he might still be a little too young to understand some of the questions in there, but I don’t think that was the case here. I think he nailed it!
I think we tend to over complicate what we are supposed to do as Christians, so let’s take a look at what the Bible says. In Matthew the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the Law (no doubt they were trying to corner him), and what was it that Jesus said? Love your God and love your neighbors. [Matt 22:36-40] The word neighbor isn’t just meaning the people in the house beside yours. Jesus is referring to “any other man, irrespective of nation or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet” according to Strong’s dictionary. So I think that pretty much covers everyone.
We are really good at finding things to distract us from loving others well. We feel the need to justify ourselves to people outside our circle that just don’t get what we are doing. We get jealous and start comparing ourselves to people in our own circle. We find ourselves downcast and inwardly focused because of ever-recurring upsetting situations we can’t control. And maybe we even find ourselves hungry and striving for the successes and things (vapors) of this world. I’m sure you can relate to at least one, if not multiple, of these distractions. I know I do! I think we fall victim to this so much because we find ourselves looking inward and outward to determine our worth instead of upward. We let the world and our own flesh tell us who we should be rather than listening to who God says we are. The reality is that we are children of God, and we have a whole slew of brothers and sisters out there that need to know this truth as well.
Want to hear another reality? The fact that we let these silly distractions get in our way of loving people means we are giving satan a foothold. He might not be able to pull us down all the time, but he tends to be good at distracting us. What a sly little devil. We can’t let the noise around us take our gaze off of the Father and His will for us.
In A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 (go read this book if you want your mind blown) the author asks, “Do I sit up on my pedestal of self-pride and look with contempt upon my contemporaries, or do I get down and identify myself with them in their dilemma and there extend a small measure of the goodness and mercy given to me by my Master?”
This question is a gut check for me. I know that God loves me. I know He has forgiven me. But am I sharing that good news with people everyday? If so, how am I sharing that with others? Jesus often shared the love of his Father with sinners as he sat at the table with them. Jesus is the only one who can justify people coming to meet him where he’s at, but he went into there house where they were at, shared a meal, and loved them. That’s the example I want to follow.
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” -2 Timothy 1:7
Let’s break down the main words in this verse. Timidity– fearful, cowardice. To make it a little more clear, the word can literally be translated to faithlessness. That’s definitely not who we are created to be. Power– inherent ability, strength residing in a thing by virtue of its nature. It’s not our own doing, but literally how we were created by our Creator. Love– affection or benevolence, charity, to be fond of. It’s not just from the heart, but to know them deeply as well. Self-discipline- sound mind and judgement, moderation; to hold one to his duty. Our mind affects our actions, and our actions should leave people never doubting we are Christians. There’s no need for us to be paralyzed by fear, because God has given us such great gifts from His Spirit to help us fight these fears. Let’s boldly walk out in who we were created to be, and remember: the battle is already won! We have the victory in Jesus Christ!
I’m going to take a note from my 3 year old nephew and just start loving people without hesitation. I mean aren’t we called to acquire a childlike faith anyways? Thank you God, for speaking through a child to remind me to love like children do: fully, recklessly, and without standards or agendas.
Go find someone to love today!
Fundraising update!
I’ve currently raised a little over $500, which puts me at needing another $6,000 to be fully funded! You can donate by clicking the “Donate!” link on the left. I’m hoping to find a group of monthly supporters who want to donate $5, $10, $20, $50 a month. If you would like to be part of that group let me know. You can also support me through this FUNdraiser I currently have going on that gives you a chance to win a souvenir from my travels! All donations are tax deductible! Thank you for all the love and support you’ve consistently shown me!
