In His Love
We just had an incredible night in fellowship with friends and believers in Christ. This was a time of enjoying a meal together and talking about God and our life together as fellow believers. We discussed ways that being a follower of Christ would play out in our daily lives, ways we can love those that we come in contact with daily. There was no agenda that we set out to perform…no plan as to when we would end our time together. It was a time of encouragement and edification to each other. I know I was encouraged…I hope that others were encouraged as well.
Specifically, I was encouraged to love, no matter what differences are there, no matter what obstacles seem to be in place. Loving takes an intentional effort. It is not something that “just happens” without trying.
Sometimes loving is quite a difficult task to undertake. Sometimes people have issues (including me!) and sometimes those issues get in the way. Loving in these circumstances takes patience, but more than that, I believe it takes honesty. So often, we want to hide in our shells and not let anyone see what is inside (I’m talking to myself here) either for fear of rejection or because that is what we have experienced in church life. It is so easy to hide in the pews (or in our homes) and not let anyone see the depth of our lives.
Honesty is a character trait that I believe we should have the freedom to experience, whether it is being honest with ourselves or with those that surround us. This is why I am fortunate to have those relationships in a simple church setting, not that it is impossible to be dishonest in that setting, but when you are actively involved in the lives of those close to you, it is much harder to enter into that shell.
Most of the time, evenings like the one we experienced tonight leave me wanting more… more time with fellow Christians, more time talking about the goodness of God, more time loving, serving, living…as the body of Christ.
I pray that there will be more opportunities for me to do so.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
Christy -
I enjoyed reading this post and I appreciate your sharing your heart. So often we (me included!) forget how much God’s Word talks to us about love … agape … the love of God shed abroad in our hearts and spilling out onto and into others. I find myself at a place right now where I am having a hard time loving someone that the Lord has asked me to minister to. Your words have encouraged me to press on!
Blessings!
January 29th, 2007 | #
Heather,
Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I always love how you articulate your thoughts!
I can definitely relate to what you have described…I have found myself in those situations as well. But we do press on…there is a bigger picture that sometimes we cannot see.
January 29th, 2007 | #
Ahhh yes LOVE, our society makes it so much a feeling and not the VERB that it is! So often it is SO easy to get so “busy” with our own little worlds that we forget to take it out. Faith (love of God) all alone on a mountainside is really easy, Its when others come into our lives or we welcome them in that things get dicey. Rich Mullins talked about picking up a stinky (literally) hitchhiker one time, and confessed that he lied and let him off, and then spoke of real Love, loves through the stench. May God use us richly and may we get out of the way to be used.
January 29th, 2007 | #
Practicing His Presence, M- What you say is so true–real love does take a sacrifice on our part, doesn’t it?
In regard to love being a feeling– that is so true. How much more love could you show someone when you step out of your “box” and into their lives? It is definitely an area that I want to continue to rethink and seek God’s guidance in.
Thanks for your input!
January 29th, 2007 | #
Christy, We sure have a great God don’t we. In the midst of our day God blesses us and loves us and we can pass that love to others. I can think of one right now that is very hard to love, because I don’t like it when they hurt others or me with their tongue. God is showing me how to love them anyway and try to understand where their anger is coming from. We live in a world of hurting people, who when they are in pain strike out at the person nearest them whether that person caused the hurt or not. This is a much needed post. Thank you for being sensitive to God.
January 30th, 2007 | #
Thanks Amy. Yes, I am sure we all can think of people that are hard to love. But your perspective is a good one: there is a reason that people are hurting and are hard to love. If we can find a way to love them despite their “hardness” then we have an opportunity to be Jesus to them. It is always a challenge to look for those opportunities, but can be so rewarding, even if we don’t see the immediate result.
January 30th, 2007 | #