Heyo hey. It’s me Savy Sav!
Recently Jesus has been teaching me a lot about love. How He loves people, how we are supposed to love, how to love whole heartedly, and how love can simply change the world.
One of the hardest things I’ve experienced in India, is all of the attention my team gets. Everywhere we go there are at least 50 people waiting to shake our hands and take pictures with us, dress us up in tribal clothing (like a doll) and ask us stand in a line for half an hour so the whole village can have a picture on their phone. At first, it didn’t bother me, I understood that they’ve never seen white people before, but as time went on it became overwhelming and exhausting. There were days when I wouldn’t leave the compound because I didn’t want to be stared at like I was a zoo animal. It made me feel more like a trophy than anything else.
Eventually, it was easy for me to become angry at the people for treating us that way. I started to feel resentful and slightly irritated all the time. I would purposely avoid people if they started walking toward us and go into a mindset of “I just can’t do it right now”. I was always so focused on doing mission “work” that I didn’t really focus on the “way” Jesus went about everything he did. Before he did any work, he slowed down to make room for people to feel loved by him. He saw the unseen and heard the unheard.
While teaching me this, Jesus really brought me back to a story in Acts 3 about a crippled beggar. A man from birth, who had been brought to the temple gates everyday, to beg for money as people went into the temple. When Peter and John went to the temple one day, the man stopped them to ask for money but instead of just giving him money and walking about their day, Peter and John took the time to talk to this man. Peter says to the man “silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk!” They helped him up and this man who had never felt what is was like to walk, started dancing and jumping with praise to the Lord. Now, just think about how many people walked in and out of his temple each day, thousands probably! Yet, here was this man that people walked past and ignored everyday. The people around were filled with wonder for what had happened to him! This is a man who now has an incredible story to share about what Jesus did in his life, all because two men stopped to acknowledge him and loved him they was Jesus would. They didn’t just walk past him like another person on the street, but they made room to love him.
We should live a slow enough life to receive the love the Lord has for us, to be able to give it away freely. Whether it is talking to the 20th woman who wants to take a picture of me, or my best friend, neither of them should be loved any less or anymore than one another. I frequently think of John, when I think of receiving the love Jesus has for us. He starts out saying “I’m John, the one Jesus loves”. He is so confident that Jesus loves him, that he tells the world that. Can you imagine walking up to someone and saying “hello I’m Y/N, the one Jesus loves” you’d definitely get some strange looks. The thing is, it’s so true. You are the one he loves, you are his favorite! He loves each and everyone of us in a way that we are his favorite. So what’s stopping us from loving each person like they are our favorite? Our own selfish flesh.
The love that Jesus has for us heals, sets free, builds up, is transformational and transgressional. When we are fully emerged in the love that Jesus has for us, we then have the power to love others the exact way he loves us. It’s our love for others that show our love for Jesus. One way that the Lord was speaking over me to love better was being more hospitable. I once heard that hospitality starts with a simple “hello”. Being hospitable is inviting people (even strangers in India:)) into your life and creating a space for them, making room to love people, encourage people, suffer in their sufferings and rejoicing in their celebrations. People become free when they are celebrated, when they are made to feel loved.
We are worthy of such an extraordinary, extravagant, bottomless, impeccable love from our Father! Down the the core of who we are, that’s what we are worthy of. We are responsible for making sure that everyone feels that love with the way we live each day. Are you slowing down to see the people who aren’t seen? Is there room at your table (I used the table because that’s where Jesus gathered his disciples) for people to sit and feel loved? Are people walking away from you ready to introduce themselves as your favorite?!
Jesus has given me a new heart and a new passion for the people I meet daily. With just remembering to love the way he did, and making an effort with him each day, I’ve been able to see how He can impact people’s lives using me as a vessel. I’ve been able to create relationships with the women and children here, with the people that cook for us and run us to the market all the time to buy snacks and never complain. I’ve been able to invest in the people here that love us so well. Love is a feeling we all want to feel. It’s amazing how much can be tethered and built up with love. He is teaching me how to love the people who line up to take photos of us, the ones that irritate me. He is teaching me how to love with an open door policy and a chair for people to come sit at my table. He is a God that invites us to sit as his table each day, let’s make sure we do the same. India, we didn’t start out on the best foot, but you and Jesus have changed my world and my heart in oh so many ways.
The sermon that inspired this was Grace Midtown: Making Room for the World- Rob Kapel! Every time I hear this man preach, it literally changes my life.
Sidenote! I only have 12 days left in India!! How crazy?! I just got here dude
