August 30, 2018

Just Love People

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. – 1 John 4:7-8

When did we get to be so mean? We pass off our words as “our opinion.” We defend our right to “our choices.” We say whatever we want without ever considering the impact it might have on others.

As Christians, we should know better but, apparently, we don’t. In fact, we’re the ones usually leading the charge.

We have no problem these days with calling someone stupid when they disagree with us. We have no trouble slinging lies out to defend ourselves when someone dares to disagree. We get angry and march off with our grudges if someone refuses to do things our way.

It’s not about us. We’re supposed to know that. But it seems as though we’ve forgotten as we focus on “me” and “I” in this fast-paced, cutthroat world.

Jesus loved people. He loved them where they were. They cleaned up their acts, so to speak, because He treated them with kindness and compassion. They were moved by Jesus because He reached out to those society had cast aside.

Today we cast those same people aside and claim we’re doing it “in Jesus’ name.” Today we turn ugly in political discussions and insist that we’re defending the Bible. Today we point fingers and draw lines without showing the slightest compassion or mercy. We’d do well to remember that the only time Jesus truly got angry was at the Pharisees for their rules that excluded or harmed those who were the least.

We talk about kids who bully other kids and we wonder why bullying has increased so much. We need only look in the mirror. Kids hear the anger in our voices as we condemn those who disagree with us. Kids hear the way we ridicule how some people dress or talk or where they live. Kids hear how we put others down and they seek to do the same.

Suicide rates are up. Mental illness rates are up. People go and go and go until there’s nothing left and they fall apart. We struggle to keep up the frantic pace in a world that is way too focused on money and prestige. Whatever happened to helping each other? Whatever happened to encouraging others when they’re going through a tough time?

We become shocked when someone falls apart. We didn’t see it coming. We have mass shootings. We have horrific things happen. And we’re surprised. Why? We are a world of hurting people who have no where to go for kindness, acceptance and love. They don’t have Jesus because we’ve forgotten that we’re supposed to be His hands and feet on this earth.

The next time you feel a “smart” comment about to erupt from your mouth, just swallow the words. The next time you get ready to criticize someone, think something good about that person and shove the criticism aside. If it isn’t good and kind, just don’t say it. Don’t repeat gossip. Don’t be part of the problem.

Imagine how the world would change if we truly lived as Jesus has called us to live. Then be the change that ignites a nation back into loving those Jesus has called us to love.

June 6, 2016

God’s Love Frees Us

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. -- 1 John 4:16

The words were proudly honest. She didn’t know God loved her. She couldn’t grasp it. Her past wouldn’t let her. Satan’s lies blocked this truth.

I didn’t know what to say. It was a classroom setting and comments were everywhere. But her truth explained so much. All of a sudden her life made sense. I’d been there.

Self-destruction is a horrible thing. It’s roots run deep, planted in childhood for both of us. When you are told over and over again that you aren’t worthy, that you aren’t loved, that you aren’t smart or capable or good, then you believe it. Because that’s what children do. They believe the lies adults tell them.

God’s love releases that. It reveals those lies and tells us a different story. It’s not about us. It’s not about what has been or what will be. It’s about a God who loves us because He is love. We can’t quite grasp that deep, unwavering love.

But it is in the grasping that we are set free. When we fully realize and accept this wondrous gift, we have no need to destroy ourselves so that we turn into truth the lies the enemy told. We can stand in the light and know that wherever we are we are loved and cherished. We are enough.

This sweet woman has a history. Don’t we all. It’s isn’t an awful one but to her it is. She sees the effects on her now grown children. She realizes her struggles have led to choices and here she is. What now?

A person filled with God’s love makes different choices. A person filled with God’s love lets go of a past that cannot be changed and focuses on a now that is beautiful and filled with possibilities. A person filled with God’s love understands that the opinions of others really don’t matter because Jesus has washed them clean.

A sweet friend tells about one really bad decision she made years ago. It cost a great deal, not only for her but for her marriage and her child. She regrets that decision but it can never be undone.

She has forgiven herself and she knows God has too. It’s the people on the outside, those who have no business with an opinion at all, who even now throw it in her face. The lies of Satan can be relentless. God’s love has overcome them all.

God is love. It really is that simple. He is more than enough to fill us up, to make us believe that today and the days to come can be different. He tells us we are worthy, worthy enough that He sent His Son to die for us. Rest in that. Believe it. Walk in freedom. You are loved.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

God Loves Us Completely

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. -- 1 John 4:8

What does love mean to you? Yeah. It’s hard to define, isn’t it? We love ice cream. We love our families. We love football teams and the beach and all kinds of things.

Then we consider that God loves us. Completely. Totally. And we don’t really understand because it’s like no kind of love we’ve ever known. We’re accustomed to love with conditions and fickle emotions and broken hearts. It’s all we know and, yet, God offers us so much more.

The simple answer, the most obvious thing, is to remember that Jesus died for us. God sent His only Son to bear the burden of our sins so that through belief we might be reconciled with our Creator. We know that. But somehow knowing that doesn’t erase the fact that it seems so distant from our daily lives.

Perhaps that’s why we have such trouble believing those simple words: God loves us. Today. With an all-powerful love that covers us with His purpose and His protection.

God loves us enough to let us stumble and fall so that we might learn and grow. God loves us enough to carry us through illness and death, reaching out to us with hope and trust that one day He will dry all our tears and there will be no more sorrow in our lives.

But what about today, you ask. There is war and disease everywhere. Your life has likely been touched by cancer or heart disease. Perhaps you’ve suffered economically or known someone who has. Maybe someone you loved died in a car wreck. And so, you ask, how can God love us and let such awful things happen to those who love Him.

We live in a fallen world. It’s such a simple statement yet comes with meaning that transcends us all. We have free will to make bad choices -- and so do all those around us. Followers of Jesus and those who have rejected Him. Those who have never heard His name and those who claim to believe but don’t. All of us have free will and we do things, say things, that harm us and those around us.

But in the midst of it all God loves us. He doesn’t leave us here to suffer alone. He comforts us. He walks with us through the dark valleys, a constant reminder that one day the grief will end and we’ll all be restored to a life with Him. As He always intended us to be.

God loves us. We can’t do anything or say anything to make Him love us any less. Whether we love Him in return or reject Him, God still loves us. There is security in that, if we can ever bring ourselves to embrace it. God loves us and nothing and no one can ever, ever take us away from Him.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Be Wary Of What You Hear

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. -- 1 John 4:1

I don't like talk radio, especially Christian talk radio. I know. Lots of people think I'm nuts. It's just that I find it really dangerous to accept everything we hear on the radio as fact. I could extend that to television programs or websites as well.

I know some people really like the controversies and getting all fired up. Other people think talk radio is all about teaching and preaching and confirming our faith. Sometimes. And there are wonderful programs out there with awsome speakers and teachers. There are also some folks out there saying things that simply aren't true. The danger comes in trying to distinguish between the two. It worries me that some people probably won't take the time.

One evening I was listening to a radio talk show while I worked. The radio station plays mostly music but once a week it has a local talk show for an hour. I heard a Christian counselor condeming people who suffer from depression, saying bluntly that depression was all about selfishness. Excuse me?! I quickly prayed that no one suffering from depression was listening. Comments like that -- factually untrue -- could push someone to commit suicide or continue to suffer in silence rather than seeking help.

I listen to another station when I'm a few hours north of here. Again, it's mostly music. The owner periodically gives editorial comments. I certainly don't have a problem with that. It's his station, after all. I do have a problem when he states his opinion as fact. I spent many years as an editorial writer and columnist. There is a huge difference between opinion and fact.

That gets me back to all those other programs I'd rather not listen to. Unless I know the speaker to be reputable, I turn the dial. Maybe I could learn something. And, yes, I probably miss some wonderful programs. But I suspect I'd just spend lots of time trying to verify what the speaker was saying when I got wherever I was going.

Talk radio can be fun but don't ever trust its speakers without verifying what they say with God and the Bible.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Do you Really Love God?

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him. -- 1 John 4:16

I have a friend who is quick to tell anyone and everyone that she loves Jesus. She speaks of drawing closer to him in recent years. It sounds wonderful. The funny thing about it all is that she never seems to be prepared for Sunday school. Nor does she find time to do her Bible study homework.

I always chuckle to myself. We all know someone like her. Probably many someones. They love Jesus so long as they don't have to do anything about it. At least until they need Him. Then they're all about what He can do for them.

How do you know when you truly love someone? I'm not talking just about romantic love here. There is the love for children, for friends, for parents and siblings. So how do you know when love is present in your heart for someone else?

So you want to spend time with them? Do they occupy your thoughts? Do your words and actions demonstrate your love for them? Do others see that love? Do you enjoy your loved ones? These are just a few questions Beth Moore asked in her study Breaking Free.

See a lot of people say they love God. And maybe they do. More likely they think they do. They respect Him. They worship Him. They're grateful to Him. But do they love Him? Do you love Him?

Remember the questions. Think about your answers. If you love God, you want to spend time with Him. You want to study the Bible. You want to talk with Him and listen to what He has to say. Your words and actions reflect your love for God. No one has to ask if you're a Christian. Indeed, their only question should be how they can receive the light that radiates from you.

God wants us to really, truly love Him. He wants us to want to spend time with Him because we love Him. As He loves us. We love others because He first loved us. He is love. We are incapable of truly loving anyone else without first filling ourselves with God's love. It's His love in us that radiates out to the other people in our lives.

So just keep telling yourself that you really love God but just don't have the time to spend with Him. How sad for you. God is looking down, loving you with an unfailing love. He wants to fill you up with His love. But you have to stop making excuses and actually spend time with Him.

Monday, February 14, 2011

What Is Love?

"Dear friends, let us love on another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." -- 1 John 4:7

We think of love as some type of romantic love. The love between spouses or boyfriend and girlfriend. Maybe we think of love between family members, the way a parent loves a child or a sister loves a sister. We might even think of love between friends.

But what is love? Is it what we get or what we give? Is it both? Is giving dependent on getting or vice versa? Is it possible to love someone who doesn't love you or is that merely infatuation?

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." -- 1 John 4:8

How do you know when true love is present? Do words determine love? Does action follow love or proceed it? Can you love without words? Can words replace action? It gets pretty complicated rather quickly. Humans aren't known for simple.

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
-- 1 John 4:9-10

We can never earn God's love. He loves us because we are His. We can never deserve God's love. We stumble too many times along life's path. We can never perfectly love God the way He loves us. We are too selfish and focused on our own needs above the needs of others.

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." -- 1 John 4:11

What is love? Reaching out to those who might not deserve our kindness and compassion. It is placing the needs of others above our own. It is helping those who reject us and our Lord. It is working tirelessly to bring good news to the less fortunate.

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
-- 1 John 4:12

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Love: Emotion or Action?

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." -- 1 John 4:16b

Is love a feeling or an action? How do we know love?  Do we know it because we feel it deep inside? Or do we know love by its actions in our lives and the lives of those around us?

We feel love as an emotion that overwhelms us. But emotions are not always dependable. They fade away. They are unstable and wishy-washy. They rely on whims and fantasies.

Love runs deep. The old saying that there isn't much distance between love and hate applies. Love brings an intensity that builds with time, that places others high in our regard. Yet love defined in the dictionary refers to a "warm feeling," which is far from the intensity that we associate with it.

Love causes action. We think of others as ourselves. We want good for the people we love. We seek to do and respond to the needs of our loved ones. We care because we love. Or maybe we love because we care.

What about those around us who maybe haven't entered that realm of love that surrounds us? Do we shove them aside? Do we ignore their needs? Do we stay centered on ourselves and those we love or do we reach out to include those whom God loves too?

There is the catch. "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) God is the beginning of love. So how can we truly know love without knowing God? And if we know God, how can we fail to act on that love and include all those who belong to Him?

So is love an emotion or an action? It is both. Because one without the other isn't love at all.