Romans 12:9-10
Love from the center of who you
are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life
to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second
fiddle.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Our 5-year-old great-nephew
Timothy has just begun kindergarten... or “big school”, as he calls it!
He is crazy about his new teacher, Mrs. Mays...and whatever she says is
like gospel with him! So two weeks into the school year, I asked, “Do
you still love Mrs. Mays?” Timothy replied, “I love EVERYONE at my
school!” And indeed, if you had heard his night-time prayers, you would
probably agree. He thanked God for several children and teachers by
name...AND he prayed especially for a particular child in his classroom
that is disruptive - and asked God to help him do better.
We
could take a page from Timothy’s book. He truly loves from the
center...deeply, and with his whole heart. He looks for the good in
others...they are ALL his friends. He doesn’t see class, color, size or
any other discriminatory markings. If you are kind and polite to
Timothy, he will be kind and polite in return...and he might just treat
you well anyway. Sure, he has little to no filter yet, so he might ask
you an honest question or two that would embarrass more “seasoned”
adults. But his heart is big...he doesn’t mean be rude – he’s just a
curious kindergartner!
We’ve become hardened as we grew. We’ve
seen things, felt things...and the world has not been kind. But we don’t
operate by the world’s rules...or we shouldn’t. And Paul tells us in
this letter to the Romans that we are not to love as the world loves,
either. We’re not to think more highly of ourselves than we
ought...we’re to be “good friends who love deeply” and look for the good
in everything and everyone. It’s a lot to ask...but nothing about the
life of a Christian is promised to be easy.
If you struggle in
this area, spend some time asking God to help you. With His help...all
things are within the realm of possibilities! I saw a t-shirt that
said...”I’ve decided I’ll never get down to my original weight. And I’m
okay with that. After all, 6 lbs. 3 oz. is just not realistic!” And
maybe it’s not realistic to think that we would ever be able to love
with the simple genuineness of a five-year-old. But we can certainly
try...can’t we?
©2014 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment