As Christians, we are called to be like Christ. I know it sounds pretty crazy, especially since Christ was the only perfect human that has ever existed on earth! So if we are suppose to be like Christ, what does that mean and how? What characteristic do we need to have to be like him? There is one trait that truly reveals what Christ-likeness is…it is love. Love is Christ. All commandments and obedience to God is founded on love. We must learn to love God first, and then we must love the people around us.
The next question that I ask is “how do I love?” First, let me say that I do not fully know how to do this and I am far from loving God and others to my best ability, but God has revealed something to me this morning that I had not noticed before. For the past year, I have been praying that God would help me learn to love. I have prayed that He would teach me what being like Christ truly means and to give me that characteristic he possesses so perfectly. I encourage you to begin doing the same today, but I warn you do not say it unless you are ready to learn what love is!
When I first began saying this prayer I thought God would simply insert more love into my heart, so that I would be able to love Him and others more fully. It is not like that! Do teachers in a classroom simply insert knowledge into your brain? No, you have to learn it, practice it, and work hard to fully understand it! That is what God does too! As I have been saying this prayer over the last year, I can now look back and see how God has been answering it. He is teaching me how to truly love by challenging me to love people and look less at my selfish motives.
These last few months God has brought new challenging relationships into my life. He has taught me how to love by having a boyfriend. I am not saying I am fully “in love” with this boy, but I believe God is teaching me to look at someone else’s needs and wants through this relationship. I am realizing it is not all about me when you date. It has not been easy! In January, I went to Las Vegas because I am going to be doing an internship there this summer. I will be working in a church and at a Christ-centered counseling facility for drug and alcoholic addicts. While I was there I met people that are not like me and have big problems in life. First, I wanted to run the other way and I thought this place was not for me at all. Then I heard the Spirit’s voice speak to me, “who are you willing to love? Will you truly love the least and the lost, or will you only love within the limits of your comfort zone?” Well, I am going to Las Vegas in a few months! Lastly, God has placed the people involved in human trafficking on my heart. My heart breaks and bleeds for these people. I know God is calling me to do something about it. It is a heavy burden, and I pray that He continues to reveal to me how I am suppose to love these people and what I am suppose to do with this burden.
I guess my point is God does answer prayers, so be careful what you pray for! Do you want to love like Christ? Then I tell you to start praying that God will give you this characteristic, but I warn you again it will not be easy. It has been the most challenging process of my life. It is not easy to love others, and it is not easy to have God reveal to you your lack of love. But will it not be truly beneficial in the end? God will look at you someday and say, “Well done my servant, you learned to love like Christ.”
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Today, I have been hit with realization of the brokenness in our world. I attend Indiana Wesleyan University, and in several chapels we have been talking a lot about child trafficking and prostitution. This evil system exists around the world in massive ways. There has also been a lot of discussion on the hungry and poor in the world; especially because of the economic problems even the United States is facing now.
This morning I became so overwhelmed by all of this discussion and the hurt that I hear about all around me. My heart breaks for the children who are forced to have sex with adults, and for those who truly know what it feels like to be hungry. I want to help them! I did not know what to do, so I went running to sort through me thoughts. I felt truly sick in my stomach with frustration and anger I had to run to release these feelings.
While I was running, I began to think about how I want God to use me in my future ministry career. This has been my deep question throughout this semester, because graduation is quickly approaching next December. I just do not feel like I know. Who am I suppose to be? What am I suppose to do? What is God’s will? In my head I am screaming, “GOD!!! There is so much hurt and pain in this world. How do I know where to go?!” Have you ever had these same thoughts?
Then I went to my first class of the day. The speaker from chapel was there to talk to our class. He had more profound and challenging things to say, but one stuck out to me the most. He asked our class, “What makes you angry in life? What truly makes you involuntary sick with passion? That is what you need to pursue in life and to pursue it with all your strength for God!” Wow! Maybe we seek God’s will too much without realizing that we already know what we are supposed to do.
Mark 6:34 says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” Jesus had great compassion for these lost people. The word compassion here means “to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion.” Jesus had such compassion on these people that he felt a sickening feeling in his bowels. That is how much he loved them, which reveals his compassion for his ministry on earth.
I feel sick with compassion when I think about the hungry, the lost, and the children across the world suffering. This makes me angry! This is what my passion is. No, I do not know what this means for my future, but I stop today to ask you one simple question. What makes you so angry and sick that moves you to love and compassion to further the Kingdom of God?
This morning I became so overwhelmed by all of this discussion and the hurt that I hear about all around me. My heart breaks for the children who are forced to have sex with adults, and for those who truly know what it feels like to be hungry. I want to help them! I did not know what to do, so I went running to sort through me thoughts. I felt truly sick in my stomach with frustration and anger I had to run to release these feelings.
While I was running, I began to think about how I want God to use me in my future ministry career. This has been my deep question throughout this semester, because graduation is quickly approaching next December. I just do not feel like I know. Who am I suppose to be? What am I suppose to do? What is God’s will? In my head I am screaming, “GOD!!! There is so much hurt and pain in this world. How do I know where to go?!” Have you ever had these same thoughts?
Then I went to my first class of the day. The speaker from chapel was there to talk to our class. He had more profound and challenging things to say, but one stuck out to me the most. He asked our class, “What makes you angry in life? What truly makes you involuntary sick with passion? That is what you need to pursue in life and to pursue it with all your strength for God!” Wow! Maybe we seek God’s will too much without realizing that we already know what we are supposed to do.
Mark 6:34 says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” Jesus had great compassion for these lost people. The word compassion here means “to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion.” Jesus had such compassion on these people that he felt a sickening feeling in his bowels. That is how much he loved them, which reveals his compassion for his ministry on earth.
I feel sick with compassion when I think about the hungry, the lost, and the children across the world suffering. This makes me angry! This is what my passion is. No, I do not know what this means for my future, but I stop today to ask you one simple question. What makes you so angry and sick that moves you to love and compassion to further the Kingdom of God?
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