If you were a mother caring for 9 children on your own… would you want help in providing for your children?
If you were an addict who couldn’t seem to get a grip on his life… would you want love, compassion, and encouragement?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Do
you love all of your neighbors as you love yourself?
Because if we
did, I’d venture to say that it would cause us to act differently…
to
want to give that child a place to lay their head…
to help that
mother provide for her family…
want to love the way Christ calls me to love… not the easy,
convenient way. Oh that we might love in a way that causes us to
move. To act.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, Jeff Long’s ministry KIM, is hosting around 80 of us World Racers this month. What an honor it has been to work alongside him and his staff. The other night my team was having a meeting outside as Jeff and his family pulled up into the driveway. Jeff said hello to a man on the other side of the fence. The man stated that he liked Jeff’s shirt that he was wearing. Not a second later, the shirt is flying over the fence and Jeff is walking in his home without the shirt on his back.
Now, I know that Jeff probably has a few other shirts in his closet and that giving that shirt away probably was not a sacrificial act. However, go somewhere with me for a moment…
What would it look like… how would the world be different if the entire body of believers operated in this same way: giving with no hesitation. Aren’t we asked to give generously? Why have we fallen short? Why have I fallen short of this clear message? What if it was so engrained in us to give… so engrained in us that we can take nothing of this world with us… so engrained in us to hold loosely to our possessions the way Christ calls us to?
I want to live in such a way that the moment someone asks something of me, I don’t even stop to think about how I will respond. Instead, I’ll respond the way Christ would: by offering all of myself… freely. If I actually loved my neighbor… if I loved these individuals the way I am called to, if I loved my neighbor as myself, wouldn’t I want to give more? Don’t I desire a place to lay my head? Wouldn’t I want to be able to feed my children? Wouldn’t I want compassion? Yes. Yes. Yes.
So what are we doing?
I want to be so fixed on Him that the things of this world fail miserably in comparison. I am a firm believer that when we live this way, then and only then, are we able to live the life Christ designed us to live. Like Jeff, I want to give the shirt off my back without hesitation…
