Loving whose way?

“I did it my way” is a song that could easily describe the way sometimes we love others.  We seem to forget to look at people’s needs or the phase they are in on their journey and focus instead on what we consider the “right” way to love.  Loving our way is easy, wouldn’t you agree? Loving people that are easy to love is a delight, the challenge comes when God places in our path people that are really tough to love, and to top it off He asks us to love them His way.

Have you ever had “those” people in your life?  You know, the ones that defy us and push our patience to what we think is the limit. The people that keep us on our knees because we know without God we would say things that we would regret.  “Those” people are placed strategically by God to help us grow and to glorify Him.  

I imagine it like this… we have this huge window in front of us, but we are willing to open just a tiny part of it because that is how we do things and that is what we feel comfortable doing, we receive some light and fresh air, but if we would be willing to open the whole window and rely completely on God’s grace to love His way, then His light would overwhelm us and it would shine brightly in our lives. We would never go back to just that tiny opening.  This reminds me of the title of a book by Joy Dawson “Forever Ruined for the Ordinary” How else can you describe it?  Once we love the way God asks us to love there is no going back to what we knew.  

Jesus loved in unusual ways, in ways no one had seen before.  He was not afraid to go against the norm set by society or to challenge common sense.

“You have heard that the Law of Moses says, ‘love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.  But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:43-45)

And we read in Matthew 5:39-40 “If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other, too.  If you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too.”  In the Bible we can find a lot of wonderful inspiration to love in unconventional ways, the way God loves us.   

 “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.  Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)

How many people is God strategically placing in our path? Are we willing to go to our “market place” and live the Word? God has anointed us with the Holy Spirit and He is with us, so we can also go around doing good.

Through the eyes of love

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could see people the way God sees them? We know we should love those around us as much as we love ourselves, we know we need to love everyone the same… but let’s be honest, sometimes it is not as easy as it sounds.

We ask God to give us His eyes, like in the song by Brandon Heath but when He does, we usually reply “really? I can’t love like that, it is too hard!” 

God always sees us with loving eyes. Let’s think of an occasion in which we really messed things up; I can assure you God was still smiling at us saying “I love you so much!”, and we may have argued with Him and said… “But God, look at what I did!”  But His love would not change because it is not based on what we have done, what we are doing or what we will do. Still He will say: “My child, I love you so much!”   

We know we have received this undeserving love, and still it is hard to go out to the world and love the same way.   

God sees things so differently from us “My thoughts are completely different from yours’, says the Lord.  ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)   God likes to surprise us with love that goes beyond understanding or logic; He likes to work in the most unexpected ways.

For example in the book of Joshua we read how God uses Rahab, a prostitute, to save two spies Joshua had sent out to Jericho to scout the land, not only did she protect them and helped them escape, but she also teaches us a great lesson on faith.  “Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. ‘I know the Lord has given you this land, ‘She told them…No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things.  For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” (Joshua 2:8-9;11)  She knew how powerful God was, and was certain that He would help the Israelites take over, and she also knew God could help her “Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you.” (Joshua 2:12)   

In Judges 6 we read how the Lord sends Gideon to rescue Israel from the Midianites.  But Gideon doesn’t feel is the right person for the job “But Lord, Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!’ The Lord said to him, ‘I will be with you.  And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” (Judges 6:15-16) God sees beyond our failures, our mistakes and our weaknesses.  He knows what He can do; He just needs us to believe in Him and let Him do it.

“Nothing can ever separate us from his love.  Death can’t, and life can’t.  The angels can’t, and the demons can’t.  Our fears of today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away.”  (Romans 8:38) God loves us and we are called to love like Him.

Let’s ask God to inundate us with His love so it will overflow.  Let’s ask Him to allow us to see people the way He sees them, beyond the superficial things that distract us from the heart, let’s thank God each day for the way He loves us.  We don’t deserve it, we don’t earn it and yet we receive it each day.  And next time God asks you to love in a way you think is impossible… tell Him... “I know I can’t love like that, but you can!”

  

Live in the now

Sometimes we may complain that our children are connected to their electronic devices all the time putting us to the side and living in their own world.  I understand things change, each generation has differences which should be understood and young people want their space, but that doesn’t mean that they need to be completely disconnected from their family or their present.  

It may seem that teens are sometimes detached from their now trying to keep up with a virtual world that doesn’t slow down, but as parents we can help our children learn to enjoy all the benefits technology brings without sacrificing the simple joy of living in the present. 

As parents we have an immense influence over our children, one that begins the moment they are conceived, so how we use that head start is crucial.  

We need to teach our children to enjoy the moment they are in, to help them see that they don’t always have to be “busy” and to be careful not to allow distractions steal from each memory, but how do we do that?  Actions speak louder than words and as parents we are being watched constantly; our children are learning from what they see us doing.   Do we half way listen to them as we scroll checking the latest e-mail or tweet? Do we leave them hanging on a sentence to answer a phone call?  “Do for others what you would like them to do for you.”  (Matthew 7:12)  If you want your children to pay attention to you, then pay attention to them.

If we look at Jesus’s life, we can see wonderful examples of living in the now.   Jesus knew how to live in the moment.  We all know He had a full agenda and was always doing something or traveling somewhere, but He was never too distracted to appreciate or too busy to help, to listen, to heal… to make a difference in people’s lives.  He expects us to do the same “The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”  (John 14:12)   

So Jesus didn’t have Facebook or Twitter not even a phone!  Yet he had plenty of friends and followers that could have kept Him busy all day, but He had His priorities straight; He knew His relationship with God came before anything else; He knew that if He didn’t spend that time with His Father each morning, He would not be ready for the day.  “Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray.”  (Mark 1:35) His inner peace gave Him the ability to live each day to the fullest, taking advantage of every situation to love.  Jesus didn’t worry about the future either “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.”  (Matthew 6:34) When we are too concerned about what will come we are too busy and too stressed to let God’s love flow.

My favorite example of Jesus living the  moment is in Mark 14:26 “Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.”  It touches me in a way I can’t explain.  Jesus knew He was about to suffer and die as a sacrifice, but He was not thinking about that,  at that instant He was singing and praising God ... that is living in the moment! And that is how I want to live, I want my life to be a song of praise to God as I keep my eyes fixed on Him, because if I am focused on Him and I do what He tells me, He will take care of the rest, and I will have peace to enjoy the now He has given me.   

Let’s make each instant count, let’s really enjoy our life, let’s not wait for “good” times to be happy or for ”special” dates to celebrate. Let’s live life to the fullest right now so the people around us can see the joy of living in the present.