Love Them.

Ok, so I know I haven't done this in a while, but I'm gonna try another soapbox. I'm gonna start with the bottom line: love them. We are called to love. Have you ever been driving and found yourself yelling at the top of your lungs at another driver who cut you off or just won't drive fast enough? Or found yourself talking about or making fun of someone behind their back? We like to express ourselves in the most effective way possible. Sometimes we express frustration through a visible show of anger. Sometimes we express humor at the expense of someone else's dignity. Please don't misunderstand me - by no means am I claiming that just because we do these things, we do not love someone. We are simply choosing to express these different emotions rather than what we should be portraying - love. However, if we do not show them we love them, what proof is there for them to believe otherwise?

The word "love," or any form of it (loves, loved, etc.), is mentioned in the NIV Bible 697 times; in the KJV 442 times. If something is mentioned that many times in the Bible, shouldn't we pay attention to it? It's as hard for me as it is for anybody, especially in my profession. Both of these examples have been my downfall, and I know I deserve nothing less than hell for it. It's hard for me to die to myself and let Christ express His love for another person through me. I don't want to let go of myself because of what it might mean to my "social image," either at work or my day-to-day life or, even worse, at church. It's sad. It really is sad that I can't live outside of myself and let Elyon take me away.

The beauty of all this is that "we love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Did you get that? HE first loved US. We were brought to life by HIS hand. If it weren't for God's love, we wouldn't even have the ability to love. That being said, it is really our inherent duty as Christians and really as creations to love. Not because, in our sinful nature, we want to. No, in our sinful nature there is nothing but death and hate. No, we are CALLED to love. It is a commandment. "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)

My point is this: it is our obligation to love. That is the internal battle you see inside the little boy at the lunch table. He sees the class outcast sitting at a table by himself and is not sure whether or not to go sit with him. When did it become social taboo to outwardly love someone? We were created out of love. By God's grace, for those who accept Him, we get to die in love. We know that, because He loved us, we have some inate sense of love and how we're supposed to love. But because we're human, we get in the way of ourselves. Our own selfish convenience can sometimes overshadow love.

God sent His only son out of love. Jesus Christ died for me out of love. His is a holy Love, and it is the perfect example of the love we are to express. Because He died for my sake, shouldn't I at least die to myself for the sake of someone else? Wouldn't that be a true witness? By simply being creations of a Holy God, don't they deserve that much?

"If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor. 13:3)