I'm going to forewarn you that I am almost in tears as I'm typing today's post. I want to share with you all something that has been on my heart for a while and the more I think on the subject, the more I feel I need to express the thoughts in writing. Some of you may get offended by what I am about to say. My prayer is that if this applies to you, God will speak to you through the words and change can happen.
The topic on my mind lately is the topic of love. It was interesting on Sunday when a guest pastor at my church preached on the definition of radical love. In his main points he discussed 4 dimensions of love when someone is grounded in Christ. I want to use his points to guide me through today's message. The first dimension is loving people who are bound in sin. As someone who has been bound in sin, I can tell you it is not fun. Someone bound in sin is hurting and in most cases they do not even realize the cause of their inner pain is their sin. The sin usually results as a search to fill a void inside. Whether the sin is alcoholism, drug addiction, sex outside of marriage, or even greed (excessive shopping and the need to always have more or better). I find it interesting how we attack those bound in sin, as if we need to add to their hurt. We often fail to understand someone's sin is just a symptom of a greater problem. It's easier for us to condemn their sin rather than do the work of understanding the root of the issue. I want to take this to another level and ask....how do you treat another believer who is struggling with a sin issue? If a marriage is struggling, do we reach out in love or in judgment and condemnation? If this happens in our own family, how do we react?
The second dimension of radical love is loving people of different cultures. I grew up in a very small town in the south. I'm not exaggerating when I say the races in my little world were black, white, Mexican, or Chinese. Seriously, that about covered everyone on the planet. At the age of 14 I began dating someone who was black. This did not go over well in my family. As a result of this I was called every name you can imagine associated with this relationship. My family knew nothing of this young man, only his race. That was all they needed to know in order to judge him. Since then I have dated men of many races and cultures. I moved to Massachusetts when I was 19 and was exposed to one of the most diverse populations in the country. I met people of races and from countries I had never knew existed. Cape Verde? Where in the world is that? What I learned by living around so many people who were first or second generation Americans is that there is so much beauty in all people. No matter what our skin color or culture, our inner humanity is all the same. My life has been greatly enriched through my friendships with people of other cultures. Even know as I look at my closest friends, I love the rainbow of diversity. If we only surround ourselves with others who look like us, we are limiting the scope of our own growth as people. I would take this even further by asking do you also have friends in different socio-economic levels. I've recently noticed most people are friends with people in their same social class. Do you have genuine friendships with those who are "richer" and also "poorer" than you? I would challenge each of you to make the conscious effort to expand your circle of friendships to someone outside of your "comfortable" circle. Could you be friends with a homeless person? Would it make you uncomfortable to carry a conversation with someone completely opposite from you?
The third dimension of radical love is loving your enemies. We often hear the scriptures about loving our enemies. Oftentimes, we fail to recognize who the word enemy could be referring. An enemy is anyone in opposition to you. An enemy could be the person you serve with at church who has a different opinion than you. Do you treat that person with love and respect or immediately discount their opinions? What about your spouse? When they disagree with you do you continue to show them love. You may not like them at the moment, but you are still called to love them. What about when a family makes choices that are not what you would choose for them. I think I need to repeat that one. What about people who make choices for their lives that are not what YOU would choose? Are you able to push through YOUR feelings and show them love? Maybe this applies to your parents. Can you love and respect them even when their choices are not all about you? I'm speaking to grown children here. Examine your hearts on this and who may be an "enemy" to you and ask God to show you how you can be more loving.
The fourth dimension of radical love is loving the hurting. This one is SO huge! Why is it when we see people who are hurting, we tend to hurt them more? So often within the church body, we do the exact opposite of what we are called to do. I'm not saying we are to ever encourage or condone sin. When I was living a life far from Christ, the people who constantly told me how wrong I was were not the people who drew me closer to God. It was the people who loved me in spite of my sin that led me to wanting to know more about God and His plan for me. We must always remember as Christians that we are Jesus' representatives here on earth. Jesus loved those who were hurting. Jesus did not stone them. The woman caught in adultery was hurting. Her choices were because of hurt in her life. Jesus saw through her actions and into her heart. What do we see in those who are hurting? Do our words cause even more hurt or do we speak words of healing? Hurting people hurt people. Sometimes we are hurt by others because they are hurting themselves. This was a huge realization to me in how I felt towards my 5 year old daughter's father. Once I could honestly evaluate his life and all the hurt and pain he had experienced, it was easier for me to let go of all the hurt he had caused me. This does not excuse a person's actions, but it helps to explain behavior. When you see someone who is hurting, do you turn the other way and ignore the pain or do you step outside of yourself to show them love and give comfort?
There are many scriptures on love. Here are a few to meditate on today.
Proverbs 17:9 "Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends."
Matthew 22:37–39 "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (are you willing to get out of your comfort zone and be inconvenienced to show love?)
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
The topic on my mind lately is the topic of love. It was interesting on Sunday when a guest pastor at my church preached on the definition of radical love. In his main points he discussed 4 dimensions of love when someone is grounded in Christ. I want to use his points to guide me through today's message. The first dimension is loving people who are bound in sin. As someone who has been bound in sin, I can tell you it is not fun. Someone bound in sin is hurting and in most cases they do not even realize the cause of their inner pain is their sin. The sin usually results as a search to fill a void inside. Whether the sin is alcoholism, drug addiction, sex outside of marriage, or even greed (excessive shopping and the need to always have more or better). I find it interesting how we attack those bound in sin, as if we need to add to their hurt. We often fail to understand someone's sin is just a symptom of a greater problem. It's easier for us to condemn their sin rather than do the work of understanding the root of the issue. I want to take this to another level and ask....how do you treat another believer who is struggling with a sin issue? If a marriage is struggling, do we reach out in love or in judgment and condemnation? If this happens in our own family, how do we react?
The second dimension of radical love is loving people of different cultures. I grew up in a very small town in the south. I'm not exaggerating when I say the races in my little world were black, white, Mexican, or Chinese. Seriously, that about covered everyone on the planet. At the age of 14 I began dating someone who was black. This did not go over well in my family. As a result of this I was called every name you can imagine associated with this relationship. My family knew nothing of this young man, only his race. That was all they needed to know in order to judge him. Since then I have dated men of many races and cultures. I moved to Massachusetts when I was 19 and was exposed to one of the most diverse populations in the country. I met people of races and from countries I had never knew existed. Cape Verde? Where in the world is that? What I learned by living around so many people who were first or second generation Americans is that there is so much beauty in all people. No matter what our skin color or culture, our inner humanity is all the same. My life has been greatly enriched through my friendships with people of other cultures. Even know as I look at my closest friends, I love the rainbow of diversity. If we only surround ourselves with others who look like us, we are limiting the scope of our own growth as people. I would take this even further by asking do you also have friends in different socio-economic levels. I've recently noticed most people are friends with people in their same social class. Do you have genuine friendships with those who are "richer" and also "poorer" than you? I would challenge each of you to make the conscious effort to expand your circle of friendships to someone outside of your "comfortable" circle. Could you be friends with a homeless person? Would it make you uncomfortable to carry a conversation with someone completely opposite from you?
The third dimension of radical love is loving your enemies. We often hear the scriptures about loving our enemies. Oftentimes, we fail to recognize who the word enemy could be referring. An enemy is anyone in opposition to you. An enemy could be the person you serve with at church who has a different opinion than you. Do you treat that person with love and respect or immediately discount their opinions? What about your spouse? When they disagree with you do you continue to show them love. You may not like them at the moment, but you are still called to love them. What about when a family makes choices that are not what you would choose for them. I think I need to repeat that one. What about people who make choices for their lives that are not what YOU would choose? Are you able to push through YOUR feelings and show them love? Maybe this applies to your parents. Can you love and respect them even when their choices are not all about you? I'm speaking to grown children here. Examine your hearts on this and who may be an "enemy" to you and ask God to show you how you can be more loving.
The fourth dimension of radical love is loving the hurting. This one is SO huge! Why is it when we see people who are hurting, we tend to hurt them more? So often within the church body, we do the exact opposite of what we are called to do. I'm not saying we are to ever encourage or condone sin. When I was living a life far from Christ, the people who constantly told me how wrong I was were not the people who drew me closer to God. It was the people who loved me in spite of my sin that led me to wanting to know more about God and His plan for me. We must always remember as Christians that we are Jesus' representatives here on earth. Jesus loved those who were hurting. Jesus did not stone them. The woman caught in adultery was hurting. Her choices were because of hurt in her life. Jesus saw through her actions and into her heart. What do we see in those who are hurting? Do our words cause even more hurt or do we speak words of healing? Hurting people hurt people. Sometimes we are hurt by others because they are hurting themselves. This was a huge realization to me in how I felt towards my 5 year old daughter's father. Once I could honestly evaluate his life and all the hurt and pain he had experienced, it was easier for me to let go of all the hurt he had caused me. This does not excuse a person's actions, but it helps to explain behavior. When you see someone who is hurting, do you turn the other way and ignore the pain or do you step outside of yourself to show them love and give comfort?
There are many scriptures on love. Here are a few to meditate on today.
Proverbs 17:9 "Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends."
Matthew 22:37–39 "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (are you willing to get out of your comfort zone and be inconvenienced to show love?)
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
