May 15, 2016

Love As God Loves

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

God is love. That’s what the Bible tells us. It’s not so much about how much He loves us, though He loves us more than we could ever imagine. It’s about how we are to love others as He has loved us.

There’s a huge debate -- I am being gracious here -- about which school restroom transgender students should use. Amid the appalled cries of woe, I wonder has anyone stopped to consider the feelings of the transgender students? Has anyone consider that they are already ostracized and bullied?

I don’t begin to understand what being a transgender person is all about. I don’t understand. And, yes, I’ve read the Bible -- several times. And that’s where I get that part about love and compassion and kindness.

When did we decide that it was okay to forgo those key elements of our faith when someone steps on our political toes? That’s what it is: politics. It’s not about the Bible, no matter how loudly we proclaim that it is.

We are told to pray for our nation. We are told to pray for those who disagree with us. I have to wonder how many of us really do that. Do you pray about these political issues or do you just loudly proclaim your hatred and disgust and tell yourself you’re protecting your faith?

It really is possible to disagree with someone’s lifestyle and still love the person. Let me give you an example: Your daughter and her boyfriend live together. You believe in purity until marriage. You disagree with her choice. Do you condemn her and refuse to associate with her? Or do you voice your displeasure but continue to love her just as much as before she made that choice?

If you’re unhappy with this issue, pray about it. Join others in prayer. God listens. Trust Him to handle it. God really doesn’t need us to defend Him or His Word. Really. He doesn’t. He’s quite capable of doing it Himself.

What God does want and expect is for us to pray for His Presence to heal our land. He expects us to love all sinners, regardless of their sin. God demands that we not judge lest we be judged by our own impossible standards.

I know this is all frightening. It’s just so more easier to surround ourselves with people we understand and people who believe as we do. But that’s not the reality of our world. It is possible to stand true to our faith, to love God with all our hearts, and to love ALL His children regardless of who or what they do. It isn’t always easy but it is possible.

So the next time you decide to get on your political high horse, take a few minutes and take it to God. Tell Him all about it, then listen to what He has to say. Love one another. Be kind. Show this fallen world who God really is.

February 8, 2015

How Do You Treat Fellow Church Members?

 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

We call this the "love" chapter. It is frequently read as weddings as the pastor as he (or she reminds them of what true love is. What we forget is that this chapter was actually written by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians as they struggled within their church and with the awful environment that lived around them. We can certainly relate today, can't we?

The thing is that we don't think about loving our fellow church members. We don't consider being patient with those who have talked too much -- again. We keep score with those we believe have wronged us. We envy those who are successful. We are proud of what we do for the church, thinking more highly of ourselves than we should and thinking less of others than we should.

In other words, we've forgotten that Jesus said to love our neighbors.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

-- Mark 12:30-31

Love. That's what it is all about. God loved us and He expects us to love others. But do we? Love, or its lack, really shows when there is a disagreement. Love, or its lack, really shows when we are kind to someone who isn't kind to us.

We've all heard or seen churches that break apart because of disagreements. How sad! what kind of message are we sending to nonbelievers? Why would they want to be apart of that?

Let us love one another and stop fussing over things of this world. What matters? Jesus Christ. He unites us under one umbrella as family. Let's remember that next time we are tempted to focus on what we don't agree on rather than what's really important.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Show God’s Love To Others

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. -- 1 Corinthians 13:13

Happy Valentine’s Day. Some of you plan beautiful celebrations with your great love. Others will mourn yet another year without someone special. And some will mourn the love they no longer have.

Romantic love consumes us. We humans were made to be in relationship with people around us. It’s difficult to feel alone, left out, an outcast.

Maybe we’re focused on the wrong thing -- and the wrong person. It really isn’t about us. It’s about God. About salvation. About loving others because he first loved us.

Celebrate love today. Honor your spouse or significant other. But remember the other people in your life. Give a cheery hello to your neighbor. Buy a rose for your elderly aunt. Anonymously give a special gift to that awkward teenager going through a rough patch.

It really doesn’t take much to make someone smile. Kindness. Noticing they exist. A smile. How many people do we ignore in our lives simply because we aren’t paying attention?

We don’t think about love when it comes to people we don’t know. We really don’t think about love when it comes to most of the people we do know. Most of the time we just aren’t that concerned, except in how they can benefit us. Oh, don’t deny it. The truth stings sometimes. We’re a self-centered people and getting more so each day.

We are so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we don’t see people who are sometimes standing right in front of us. Do you notice the janitor at your office? Do you know his name? Do you know anything about his family? Or what about the cashier at the store? Do you say hello? Or are you so busy talking on your cell phone that you don’t even acknowledge her?

When did we become so rude, so self-involved, that other people ceased to matter to us? It’s not okay. Really. It isn’t. I know. I’m on my soapbox. Somebody needs to be. God tells us to love others because He first loved us and we won’t even acknowledge that they exist.

So take time on this day of love to notice the people in your daily life. Smile. Speak kindly. Pay attention. Show an interest. Treat other people like you would want to be treated if your situations were reversed.

God loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine. Let us show the world that we belong to God by how we love those around us.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Jesus Gave Us Hope

"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." -- Romans 8:25

The season of advent began yesterday. Each Sunday we look forward to Christmas Day and the birth of Christ. We celebrate His arrival and the hope that He brought to a dark world.

Hope. A four-letter word filled with such promise.

Jesus came to save us from separation from God. We are sinners. We didn't stand a chance on our own. Jesus promised that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. His blood restored us to a right relationship with God. Jesus gave us hope.

What is hope? It is a belief that somehow, some way, things will be better tomorrow. Hope is what separates the person who commits suicide from the one who doesn't. Hope is what urges a cancer patient to fight when everyone else has given up. Hope is believing that people can change, no matter their past. Hope tells us that God's love surrounds us even in our darkest hours.

God's love. Amazing, isn't it? After all the heartache we've caused Him, He loves us still. God sent His Son to die for us. He planned it all along. Jesus suffered for us. Truly. But on the first day of advent, and throughout the Christmas season, we remember the hope that came with a newborn baby. We celebrate the promise of a new world, one without sorrow and pain.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -- 1 Corinthians 13:13

Faith comes when we believe in our hearts that Jesus is God's Son, that He died on a cross to take our sins on Himself and that He rose three days later and now sits at the right hand of God. That's faith. Believing what we do not see, yet knowing in our hearts that it's true.

God sent Jesus in love. Jesus brought hope. Faith keeps us steady as we travel the paths of this life. During this season of hustle and bustle, take time to remember that what we are celebrating isn't found in a brightly colored package. It's found in the hearts of believers who show Jesus to the world around them.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Love With Action And Heart

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

We frequently hear these verses during wedding ceremonies. Of course, they weren't written specifically for that purpose but I suppose they fit. It's just that there's a real danger in thinking of them as words only applying to newlyweds. They were meant to guide all Christians.

I'm reading a book titled Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's one of those books that make you squirm because of the truth in the writer's words. Chan is listed as pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. Some folks in the Deep South might dismiss the book because of its California connection. They would miss an awesome book on God and living a Christian life.

Chan says someone once challenged him to perform a little exercise with the above verses. He challenged his readers to do the same. Just insert your name for the word love. For example, "(your name) is patient." I promise that by the time you get to the end, you'll be truly humbled. I don't think any Christian could do this without being truly convicted.

We've come to think of love as a mere feeling, flaky and undependable. It's romance lures us toward it but love is so much deeper and meaningful. Christian love "never fails." We are to always forgive, always seek good for others, never boast in ourselves. And on and on. Imagine putting the interests of someone who doesn't deserve it above your own interests and you'll get the picture.

Chan gives an example of a pastor but it could be anyone. He says that if the pastor speaks well, makes his congregation laugh and prays loudly for the suffering people of this world, then we think he's a good pastor. We don't look at his heart and see if he loves people. Sad, isn't it? Because the love of others is really what matters. Paul spoke of this in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

It's wonderful to do good. It's awesome to study God's Word and to pray for those around us. But the real measure of our faith is seen in our hearts. Do we love others, including our enemies? Do we do good for others, even those who persecute us? Are our hearts filled with kindness and compassion for the lost and wounded? This journey toward God isn't easy. Sometimes the truth makes us uncomfortable. But it's that uncomfortableness that draws us closer to Him and makes us better people in the end.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Don't Assume Love

"It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:7

Paul wrote these words as he described love. It is part of a passage frequently used at weddings. But these words apply to all love, not just the romantic love we associate with it.

One type of love is the love a parent feels for a child. Parents say things like, "I would die for my child" or "I love my child more than anyone else in the world." Parents speak of the unbreakable bond. They assume every parent feels the same. That just isn't the case.

Some children grow up unwanted and abused. Sometimes those scars are very visible, with black eyes and broken arms tell-tale signs. Other times the abuse isn't so evident. It's the handprints and bruises that rest under a child's clothing. It's the anger and fear that comes from comments like "you're stupid" or "you never do anything right."

Contrary to what some people believe, child abuse doesn't just happen on the other side of the tracks. It happens everywhere. It happens in mansions and single-wide trailers. It happens down the street from where you live. It happens to the child who plays with your child. It is all around us but do we see it?

I'm not trying to make anyone paranoid. I simply want to point out that blinders can cause even more destruction. It has always bothered me when others refuse to get involved when they see something that's not quite right. They're afraid of being wrong and being embarrassed. Or maybe they're afraid of being right and shattering their illusion of what happens in their world.

What doesn't work are the platitudes we throw out. "Your mother really does love you, she's just upset" or "he didn't mean to hit you so hard." It doesn't take away the words or the pain. It simply teaches the child to turn inside and hide.

Violence and angry words sometimes masquerade as love. It is our job as adults to help protect children. It is our job as Christians to teach children that real love is safe and true, it always seeks the best and offers hope. Most children have wonderful parents who love and cherrish them. All children have a Heavenly Father who loves them unconditionally.