LOVE
I spent the day with my niece at Sea world today and I thoroughly enjoy quality time loving on this little girl. We can be doing nothing but sitting and it's still just great to be with her. I adore her and would do just about anything for her. I just love loving her.
Then on the way home when the little was sleeping my mom got all sappy and told me she really hopes she lives to see me get married and have babies. Now she's not sick or anything like that but you know how parents are...at least mine are and can get all emotional at any given time...So then I was thinking about how I can't wait for that either and I want to experience that kind of Love in life too (hopefully sooner rather than later, am I right God? :)
Fast forward a few hours and I was talking to a friend about a tattoo I want to get (shocker! yes I want a tattoo!) and I had been going back and forth about what to get. I want something small and something that has importance to me. I thought about a cross or a bible verse but that just didn't seem right. I began sharing with this friend something I learned in Haiti and I just knew that it was perfect for my tattoo! He said that this tattoo would be a great way to share the gospel as well...And guess what it is?? LOVE
While in Haiti one of the girls from a team in Alabama shared one night about Love. She read the verse John 13:34-35 which says “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Now I've been a Christian my whole life and I've heard this verse countless times. Of course we know as Christ followers that we are called to love others. But do we really follow this commandment? And do others know that we are Christ followers based on our love for others? My answer to both those questions would be no.
The girl who shared this said that love can look many different ways. It can be loving your spouse or your family members. It can be loving your friends and walking with them through difficult times. It can just be hugging orphans, or painting old ladies nails. It can be being nice to the person no one is nice too. It can be building a house for the poor, or giving a good tip to the server who was lousy. It could be washing the feet of a dirty homeless man, or just smiling at a stranger. Love is shown in so many different ways. Love is not easy. It can be messy, hard, confusing, and not seem worth it. But trust me it is so worth it. If Christ called us to do it then it will be worth it one day when he looks at us and says "well done my good and faithful servant" I want him to say that I loved well and I loved deeply.
I challenge all of you to look at your life and see where you could love more. Where could you give more grace to people and love them like Christ loves you? God doesn't just say to love, but to love like he loves us...now that's quite a bit of love! The Lord loves us with an everlasting love and there is nothing we can do to make Him stop loving us!
I am calling myself out here and hopefully others will feel the same pull on their heart as I did when I was in Haiti hearing this word. I have not been doing an excellent job loving others. Sure we all have bad days and get frustrated with people but I bet if we go into every day with the mindset of John 13:34-35 then we will be more likely to show Christ's love and less likely to have those "bad days."
One last verse for you to chew on that blows my mind every time I read it.
1 John 4: 8 "Anyone who does not love does not know God. Because God is love."
#BOOM
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