true love

 You might think I am on a soapbox. And, I might just possibly be. That's what happens when it's raining outside and you are stuck inside a camper. This morning I read a devotion about how the world is busy trying to do all kinds of things, politically and socially. They are doing it for the right reason but, the message that goes out is one of hate. I don't think hate can ever be dressed up. You can try and paint a pretty picture.  Wrap it up and put a beautiful bow on it. It can flow off your tongue like honey. Silky as satin. It doesn't matter how it is masqueraded, it will always be hate. There is only one antidote for hate and that is love the article stated. True love. Sometime we set out with our own agendas and try and attach Jesus' name to it like that will make it alright. I don't think that Jesus is interested in our "busy work". And I'm pretty sure he knows when we are hiding behind it. You know Adam and Eve did the very same thing in the garden. They were never ashamed of their nakedness until they sinned. Then what did they want to do? Hide. Rather than just coming out in the open and confess what they were really doing, they wanted to hide. We all do that from time to time.  I know I do. We hide behind our projects, our committees, our church attendance, you name it. It just makes us feel better about ourselves. 

It was a great article for me because I've been challenged to choose love a lot lately. It seems that everywhere I turn Holy Spirit is teaching me a lesson of "less of me and more of Him." I kept having a little confrontation with someone at work. What I said seemed to have upset the other person. I knew it did. I'm the kind of person that after I've said it, I want to take it back. Or try to pretend that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Well, after this particular incident, I immediately became broken. I started praying and asked Jesus why this seems to happen to me. His response was immediate. They just need to feel important. Like everyone, they want to be noticed. I immediately understood. When i put someone else's needs above my own, that is love. That sounds simple enough. And on a good day I can probably do that. But, on a day that my self-esteem isn't as perky, and my pride is a little too prideful, it's another matter all together. I just need to be noticed too!

 I've loved this quote for a long time. “How I treat a brother or sister from day to day, how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street, how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike, how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life than the antiabortion sticker on the bumper of my car.”*  It speaks volumes to me. Now, don't get me wrong. I choose life. An anti-abortion sticker on my car is not a bad thing. It's just that life gets messy. I think how I deal with the messes says so much more about what is really in my heart. The question I ask myself is this. Am I really "all in"? Or am I trying real hard to just "look good."? 

 I just recently watched the new film, "Unplanned." It is a biographical movie about Abby Johnson, who after running a very successful Planned Parenthood Clinic was asked to actually help with an abortion on a day that they were short-staffed. It opened her eyes and heart forever. The theme that prevailed in that movie was one of love. Love in action. I must say it opened my eyes and heart. I've got to do so much more than put a bumper sticker on my car (or a bible verse on social media).

I can't hide behind anything! Whether it appears to look good or not.

God always knows my heart ♥ 

sammie jean

  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. I Corinthians 13: 1-3

* Brennan Manning's the Ragamuffin Gospel.