About a year and a half ago I wrote how I hoped to live my life by showing Love and Kindness to others to the best of my ability. Others meaning ‘everyone’. Still a very rough journey at times - navigating this call, this path that I truly believe God set me on. Not a ministry appointment, not a place of serving in a church (though I do that when I can), but the desire to look at life through the lens of that ‘crazy to the world’ Savior who did just that - showed love and kindness while walking among the people - chastising the religious leaders, welcoming the dirty and sullied, teaching and setting a new commandment for us all.
And this morning the message was on that - Love and Kindness.
So I’m going to steal straight from the message I just heard and add my take on this ‘new commandment’.
Showing love and kindness is a CHOICE. A daily decision to NOT be mean, surly; evil. Yup, I just said evil. In our hearts we are evil unless we fill it with the Light.
“He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.”
2 Chronicles 12:14 NIV
I chose to take action. Simple action of being available, willing, committed (as best this man can) to this cause.
Then there’s my recent look at 1 Corinthians through the “is” scriptures. My take on how to truly show the L word!
“…is…
Patient
Kind
No envy
Not proud
Honors
Not selfish/self seeking;
Slow to anger
Doesn’t keep score
Does not do evil
Seeks truth
Protects
Trusts
Hopes
Perseveres -
Never Fails.
The Greatest…
…is.”
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
Take away the frilly, feel-good, emotion based version of this and get down to the Choice to Act, Commit and Be… Love.
Showing this to those close to us seems obvious, but what about to our enemy, to a stranger, to those sick - whether physical diseased, mentally ill, addicted, angered souls?
I’m still working on this. And I fail at it daily. The course isn’t about a specific outcome - though there are some areas where I pray constantly for the path I’m walking to unfold…
But if we just try a little more to Be Kind. Show Love. Breathe life/light into darkness. And not my own light, but His…
Holy Shit! What a change that could make!!
Ponder that.
What if we spent more time being those “is”s from above?
What if I just took a little more time to see others and to show them a little of what saved my ass?! A bunch of people praying (Thank you BHBC Life Group!), a God that loves, a light that I hope will continue to shine.
Last note:
AND sometimes Love is about letting go. Holding up an outstretched hand and saying “please take this from me”. It’s Yours.
~ Peace
The Burtle
