Radical love...

 

Christianity... Sitting in beautiful churches once a week... Reading your Bible at least every day... and being sure to look like a decent person when other people are watching.

Really???

 

So we know this is not what it's about... Why do we keep living this way?

Presenting a watered-down, sugar-coated, comfortable, "nice" side of life, when it's not at all what true Christianity is. A profound thought, and one demanding answers. 

 

Might there be some practical truth we're missing? 

Something needs to change about the way we live.

What does "turning the other cheek" look like in action?

Could loving the ugly be more than just a cliché ?

 

Look to Christ- in His life we see the simple, naked gospel truth. Loving them as they spit in your face! Not our fickle kind of love, which loves those who love us back. This is a love we don't understand. It goes beyond anything we're used to, yet this is what we are called to!

 

Though it has happened to people, it's highly unlikely that we will experience someone literally spitting in our face. The reality of this in our day-to-day lives may seem a little more disguised, but it's still the same, really. And we don't have far to look... No, our suffering is never the same, not near what Jesus endured for us, but our response- that's what must be the same. Like Jesus.

Stirring, relentless, compelling...

Are we willing to count the cost. Of being spat on in the face, time and time again, for the love of a soul?

 

Lord Jesus, give me that kind of love.

 

Patience is More Than Endurance.

A saints life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer God is aiming at something the saint can not see, and he stretches and strains, and every now and again he says - "I cannot stand anymore." God does not heed, he goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. Though He slay me yet will I wait for him. 

A Smile (and whole new perspective)

I saw her, and at first she looked like a child. The tiny school shoes on her feet hardly looked big enough for a kid in grade one, but as my eyes moved up the short little legs and torso, they came to rest on her face. The face of a young woman. And on that beautiful face, despite the pain in her eyes, was a smile. It cut right through me.

She was a dwarf. This was not something she had chosen, something she could do anything about. It wasn’t her fault that she was born this way, yet she didn’t seem resentful. Walking just ahead to her was a “normal” schoolmate, making her disadvantage all the more obvious.

At her age, she could have had so much going for her, but instead she must live like this. It just isn’t fair. And then another thought, one that chilled me to the bone. That could have been me. Why should she suffer, and I live a comfortable life? Not only does she have the disability, it’s obvious that she doesn’t enjoy the same privileges I do, either... The tables could just as well have been turned.

That’s when I ask myself the question, “How would I respond if I were in her situation?” It can’t be nice to have people like me staring at you because you’re different…would I still offer a smile? Would I have peace in my heart, and would I be willing to trust God? Would I even bother to pursue and education, or would I just give up, saying it’s useless?

There I sit in a comfortable car, thinking how miserable my life is because I’m battling to get internet and it’s been too long since I last ate! So petty! And to think, there are people who’ve never heard of internet, who don’t even know when they last ate, or where their next meal is coming from!

Father, help me. Help me to see life from Your perspective. Take my life in self-sacrificing service to Your children.

Thank You for a smile, undeserved…