Ever since I was a little girl I was told I had to do a certain thing or be a certain way in order to share the gospel or the love of Christ. Why wasn’t I involved in youth? Why wasn’t I helping on Saturdays at a soup kitchen or sorting donated clothes at Blah Blah Blah Organization? And ever since I was a little girl I have thought that that’s not true, that you can show people Christ though being around them and loving on them; that’s something my dad taught me and something I realized after several conversations I had when I was 16 years old with someone; let’s call him Ryan. Ryan was my friend and my age and was constantly involved in ministry with his church i.e. helping lead worship, helping with youth nights and also ministry outside of his church i.e. soup kitchens, sorting donated clothes at Blah Blah Blah Organization and street evangelization (you get the picture).
Ryan was really good at questioning my relationship with The Lord and how close the Father and I actually were, as well as my effectiveness in loving God and loving other people. His favorite quote from the Bible he liked to throw at me was:
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26
How on earth could I have faith and continue in a relationship with The Lord and love/be an example to other people if I wasn’t actively involved in ministry? I attempted to explain how everyone is called to something different, and that there was no way he could possibly know my heart or the level of my relationship with God and that people will see Christ’s love through us if we only interact with them and give them a chance. If I would have been more Bible-savvy at the time, I would have whipped out John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” I also tried explaining that no amount of works would make God love us any more or any less. The message wasn’t received.
Two things were certain that came out of conversations with Ryan:
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He made me feel like a vile human being
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I was even more convinced that people would see Christ in me. I would love people hard and well, and I would love them differently than how Ryan loved
I understand that I’m coming to you from Maputo, Mozambique on a big long missions trip thousands of miles away “doing works” for The Lord. But that’s because God asked me to go, and out of love and obedience, I accepted His challenge. I acted out of love, not conviction, pressure or judgement.
God has walked me into a deeper knowing of his love for me and others the past couple of months that I want to share with you, and I want to see what He says about love in His Word.
We all know 1st Corinthians 13: “Love is patient love is kind?” In one of my translations (KJV) it says the word “charity” instead of “love.” One definition of “charity” is “kindness and tolerance in judging others.” Charity is one out of four types of love; it is the love that gives, it is the love that is patient with and it is the love that has grace for.
Verse 2 says if we don’t have charity we have NOTHING, despite having prophecy and understanding mysteries and moving mountains, if we don’t have charity, which is love, we have absolutely nothing. Verse 4-8 tells us what charity is and what it has and does. If we are bitter, angry or condemn another, we cannot possibly have charity, which is love, for love is not of those things.
Love is something The Lord has walked me through and is continuing to walk me through. I have family and friends who are believers and are a bad example of love, and I wonder how they can treat others the way they do if they love Christ. Loving Christ and loving your brother is not making them feel small and condemning them in Jesus’ name. Loving Christ and loving others is being willing to look past their faults and shortcomings and come alongside them and have grace and patience, the way God has and does with and for us.
In 1st John 4:7-21 (long but GOOD verse; read it) it talks about brotherly love and also the love God has for us. Towards the end it shows us that when we have fear, we are not allowing The Lord’s love to cover us. There is no love in fear, and fear is not of God because God is love and if there is no fear in love then fear cannot be of God.
“There is no fear in love.” Wow. How I love that. That’s 1st John 4:18. After that it says “perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment.”
I would have to say that love is probably my absolute most favorite thing. I love loving on people, I love showing my love in different ways with different people among my group of friends and in my family. I love showing Josh I love him by making him over-medium eggs, helping clean his room or buying him a new t-shirt. My new favorite thing is to show him and the people around me how I love them through giving them the benefit of the doubt and having grace towards them if they’ve upset me or if there’s been a misunderstanding. It’s absolutely incredible what benefit of the doubt and grace can do for you and the people around you; how it can grow and mold your relationship with them and with God.
We have already been ultimately loved and are actively being loved constantly by our Father. It talks a lot about this in 1st John 4 as well. It also says in verse 12 that God’s love can be made absolutely perfect in us if we only love one another the way He has loved us. His love in us is perfect when we love one another; poetically flawless and utterly beautiful.
Love is the most powerful thing on Earth; it is an action and a choice, not something you feel; hardly. It is what changes mindsets, it is what removes hatred, it is what opens doors, it is what is given, it is what is deserved, it is the choice above all others and at times the hardest thing to choose; love is what dies for another. Love makes the impossible, possible. Love is grace. Love is accepting the reality and the consequences because you know it is good and right; because you know it is for the benefit of others and not your own feelings or judgements. Love is the most powerful, wonderful and most difficult thing.
But love changes lives and is worth it even if it’s just for one person.
On the Race I have been told what a good example I am and how I have accepted something so difficult for the benefit of the Kingdom and how I am changing lives all over the world. Sometimes hearing that makes me cringe slightly. Maybe I am unintentionally making people feel bad or guilty because they haven’t abandoned all they know for the sake of Christ. Or, maybe I have been a way for The Lord to ignite someone’s soul and find a passion God is leading them towards. I don’t know any of this. But I do know one thing:
Do not ever look at someone else’s life and think they are a better Christian or have a better relationship with Christ just because they were called to something different than you. I am no more a better Christian as a missionary in Mozambique than you are in Houston, TX or Ozark, Missouri. We are all missionaries. I was called to leave the country for a brief 11 months for I don’t know what. I still don’t know. Yes, it has been incredible to travel the world and it’s obvious The Lord has used this time to exponentially grow my character and grant me the opportunity to minister to others, but not everyone is required to go across the world to be a good Christian, to have faith, to love and to follow God’s plan.
Don’t think that.
I never planned on going on the World Race and right up until we launched in January, I didn’t even want to. I’m ecstatic to go back home and apply what I’ve learned to my returned life in the States.
But don’t think that I’m loving people out-of-country more than you are at home. Wherever you have been called is just where The Lord wants you, and He has you there for a purpose. You may think Africa needs a lot of love, but you know what needs a lot of love? Our country. The United States of America. It’s a detrimental explosion on the brink of being triggered, and trust me, everyone on the other side of the world knows about the State’s problems.
You are in the country that may need love the most, that may need boldness, courage and action the absolute most. Pray for our country and for its leaders. Love people every day. Love people at work; ask them how they’re doing and just listen. Love people at Starbucks, love your waiter at the restaurant, the cashier at the grocery store, love the homeless man on the street, love your sibling when they piss you off. Because I can tell you one thing: anger and hatred have never changed a damn thing. It only makes people even more defiant and set in their ways, “Oh, you hit me? I hit harder.”
No.
“Kill them with kindness.” That’s a popular term; but try practicing it. It works, and you’ll find that the people who frustrate you and irk you the most actually have deep-rooted issues. No one has ever been willing to open up the can of worms with them, dig around inside and pull out what’s dirty, stinking and hurting, place it on the table and figure it out.
So be kind, and love people. Nothing else we do is getting us anywhere. And listen to The Lord; what is He asking you to do? Have you felt that He’s even asked something of you yet? If not, it will come; or maybe He is and you’re ignoring it. Try spending some time actually asking dangerous questions: “What do you have for me? What are you leading me to do? How can I love others the way you have loved me?”
Trust me, He will answer, and you probably won’t have to go around the world to do it.
My teammate, Anna, and me in Mozambique; laughing is our favorite
