We all want to be on the winning team, right? It feels good! We feel strong and powerful. Victorious! Nobody strives to win the silver medal. I believe this can carry over into our faith. We want to be the people who are right—who do things the right way, for the right purposes, to feel like we have special insight into what God wants from us.Here comes my bold statement of the day: I believe we have a ton of people showing a incomplete understanding of God's love…and it's only building up walls and dividing us from our brothers and sisters. This isn't anything new, either. 2000 years ago, the Pharisees and religious leaders were constantly trying to divide people according to good and bad, right and wrong. Jesus came along and said that we are all bad…and there's nothing you can do about it! But (I imagine him saying) just watch what I'm going to do about it!
We get in a huff when people do things we disagree with. We express sadness or disappointment—at times, vitriol—and then hope they somehow see Jesus in us. We are never going to be able to modify the behavior of the masses in order to make them good enough for heaven. There's no such thing! That's a humbling truth I'm not sure many relgious people understand. Thank God it's not up to us!
I find personal freedom in letting go of trying to change people to be like I think they should be, and continually falling on love as my action of choice toward them. However imperfect I am at that now, I hope to live the rest of my life improving.
Love says, "I'm not going anywhere. I don't want you to be alone, no matter what you're going through, or whatever decisions you make. I will always be here with you, loving you and praying for you - and needing your own unique perspective on life, because my own vision can get so myopic!! Like God says multiple times in the Bible, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
As I know God's love more, I can give away that love to others…but only as much as I know it! How can you give away unconditional love if you haven't experienced it yourself?
It's no longer my job to keep score—to see who's good or who's bad. There's no winning team in this life. No medal you could ever win on this earth will last. But there is a treasure, better than gold, that will last for all of eternity. Fall onto the unconditional non-score-keeping love, and then be the place where others can clearly see that love for themselves.
Thank you for the love & support you continually show to me. I'm grateful. And I'd love to hear from you. What do you think hinders Christians from showing the unconditional love of Christ?
3 comments:
Well written Mark!!
I think what hinders us from showing Christ's unconditional love the most is selfishness, fear, and the need for approval. We might think we deserve love, but don't feel like loving anyone else beyond our little circle. As long as everyone in our little bubble loves us, then life is good. We want love and approval despite our imperfections, but we aren't always willing to see past others imperfections so that they too can feel loved and approved of. We get set in our ways and don't like change. Some might think, what if I love this person that the world sees as undeserving, what will others think of me? I once read a quote somewhere that said "The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." I think there is a lot of truth to that. We all want to be appreciated and loved in some way. God made us that way! We were "made for love" as Toby Mac would say. Sometimes this dictates our actions. But our actions should be because of love. The love we receive from the Lord. "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19 And "since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11. God shows us love so that we can show others that same love. The verse doesn't say, "as soon as the person gets their act together you can love them." As the bible says, Love is unconditional. I'm so glad that I don't have to be "the best" in order to receive God's love, because if that were the case, I would never be able to get it!
I like what you said, " I find personal freedom in letting go of trying to change people to be like I think they should be, and continually falling on love as my action of choice toward them. However imperfect I am at that now, I hope to live the rest of my life improving." With God, all things are possible! We have to have faith and love others even when it's difficult, and let Him do the work of changing people.
This is awesome Sue!! Thank you so much for writing!
You're welcome! To God be the glory! :)
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