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
Showing posts with label loving generously. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loving generously. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for February 14, 2013
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Unless you’ve been in a coma, you know that today is Valentine’s Day… a day when we are supposed to shower others with love in the form of cards than range from “mushy and gooey” to downright silly, flowers, balloons, candy – especially chocolate – and other gifts. More than $4 billion will be spent on jewelry alone, according to an article at www.forbes.com. Overall, this will be an $18.6 billion dollar event! People will propose marriage – and others will actually tie the knot.
Tomorrow, baskets and bins in retail outlets throughout the world will be filled with discounted leftovers. The price of fresh roses and other flowers will go down - and let’s be honest…people will not be as tender and loving toward one another. It’s as if this one day of the year wields some sort of magical power over most of us. If someone purchases one of these items today to share with a loved one, is the love any less genuine? Can your February 14th gestures of love convey how you feel about others for the rest of the year?
I do not mean to belittle Valentine’s Day. I love sending Valentines to my little nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. I enjoy making heart-shaped treats for them and imagining their little faces when they get a surprise in the mail or on their doorstep. Although we long ago agreed to stop exchanging gifts and cards, it gives me great joy to leave love notes for my husband, or to make him a special holiday breakfast… or to share a celebratory lunch or dinner. But sending gifts and cards is relatively easy. In The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren reminds us that …”If you only serve when it’s convenient, you’re not a real servant.” It would follow that if you only love on Valentine’s Day, you very well may be only pretending to love others.
The challenge for all of us is to look around and figure out who – and how – we can love 365 days a year. Where can we show others the love of Jesus with genuine words and acts of affection and honor? How can we step out of our comfort zone in order to be obedient disciples of Christ? Is the love of Jesus Christ (and grace, mercy and forgiveness that His love encompasses) so profound in our own lives that we are ready and willing to drop everything to share it with someone else? What is so important in our own lives that we don’t have time to love another in the name of Jesus… and why do we think this requires gifts, cards, candy, or jewelry?
Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to think about love. This is a great time to examine our hearts and find any corners where our expressions of love might be less than authentic. Ask God to show you where you love others conveniently or give lip service instead of genuine care and concern. Let Him show you how to love others every day of the year… to extend to them the grace, mercy, forgiveness and compassion that Jesus showers us with continually. Be a real servant and a true disciple. Make every day Valentine’s Day in Jesus’ name. Allow Jesus to use you for His glory… and get ready to be loved like mad in the bargain!
©2013 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for February 3, 2013
Luke 6:27-38
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
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.
Timothy and I sing this little song from “Jack’s Big Music Show” about being a grump. It says in part…
If you wanna be a grump, that’s okay…
But could you be a grump a little further away?
It’s not that I don’t love you, cause you know I do
Sometimes I’m grumpy, too!
The sad truth is that many of us really don’t love grumps very much… or those who fail to meet our standards in a number of areas. We don’t have time to help someone else because we’re too busy asking “When is it MY turn?” We analyze everything in terms of what’s in it for us? And if somebody offends us? They are “on the list!” My cousin used to talk about some people who had a mental “list” of people who had offended them. As he put it…“Once you’re on ‘the list,’ there is no eraser!” Does this sound like Christian love in action?
I get it… we don’t like everybody. There are people who have irritated us or gotten on our last nerve. There are those we have decided are not in our league. We have been offended… and yes, some of us have truly been treated very badly by others. People do dumb things or make mistakes. It’s true that some simply can’t seem to “get it together.” But we are not their judge and jury. And honestly, if we took a good hard look in the mirror, we might find that there was plenty for others to criticize and pick on about us!
We need to stop playing the “either or” game… “Either you do this for me, or I won’t love you… either you treat me better, or I’m done caring about you… either you kick it up a notch, or I don’t have time for you and your shortcomings.” We need to start loving as Christ taught us… graciously, generously, unconditionally…not merely when people are at their best – but more importantly, when they are at their worst!
If Jesus’ love for us depended on the criteria we outline for others, we would never, ever receive it. If Jesus held us to the same standards to which we hold others, we would not feel His loving presence in our lives even once. If Jesus used the same yardstick with which we quantify others, we would not measure up under any circumstances.
Do you see the disconnect here? Do you get it? Loving others is not always easy or pretty, convenient, fun, or fair. But I can assure you, loving us is none of these things for Jesus much of the time, either! Yet He loves us anyway! How can we call ourselves true disciples of Christ and love with any less grace, mercy and forgiveness than He offers us? How can we label others as grumps, beneath us, or so offensive and repulsive that we cannot bring ourselves to love them… and then expect Jesus to love us?
When will we learn that the love of Christ has nothing to do with what we can gain personally in the “here and now”… and everything to do with what we gain for all eternity? Do you really understand what it means to live – and love – generously? Isn’t it time you did?
©2013 Debbie Robus
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
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.
Timothy and I sing this little song from “Jack’s Big Music Show” about being a grump. It says in part…
If you wanna be a grump, that’s okay…
But could you be a grump a little further away?
It’s not that I don’t love you, cause you know I do
Sometimes I’m grumpy, too!
The sad truth is that many of us really don’t love grumps very much… or those who fail to meet our standards in a number of areas. We don’t have time to help someone else because we’re too busy asking “When is it MY turn?” We analyze everything in terms of what’s in it for us? And if somebody offends us? They are “on the list!” My cousin used to talk about some people who had a mental “list” of people who had offended them. As he put it…“Once you’re on ‘the list,’ there is no eraser!” Does this sound like Christian love in action?
I get it… we don’t like everybody. There are people who have irritated us or gotten on our last nerve. There are those we have decided are not in our league. We have been offended… and yes, some of us have truly been treated very badly by others. People do dumb things or make mistakes. It’s true that some simply can’t seem to “get it together.” But we are not their judge and jury. And honestly, if we took a good hard look in the mirror, we might find that there was plenty for others to criticize and pick on about us!
We need to stop playing the “either or” game… “Either you do this for me, or I won’t love you… either you treat me better, or I’m done caring about you… either you kick it up a notch, or I don’t have time for you and your shortcomings.” We need to start loving as Christ taught us… graciously, generously, unconditionally…not merely when people are at their best – but more importantly, when they are at their worst!
If Jesus’ love for us depended on the criteria we outline for others, we would never, ever receive it. If Jesus held us to the same standards to which we hold others, we would not feel His loving presence in our lives even once. If Jesus used the same yardstick with which we quantify others, we would not measure up under any circumstances.
Do you see the disconnect here? Do you get it? Loving others is not always easy or pretty, convenient, fun, or fair. But I can assure you, loving us is none of these things for Jesus much of the time, either! Yet He loves us anyway! How can we call ourselves true disciples of Christ and love with any less grace, mercy and forgiveness than He offers us? How can we label others as grumps, beneath us, or so offensive and repulsive that we cannot bring ourselves to love them… and then expect Jesus to love us?
When will we learn that the love of Christ has nothing to do with what we can gain personally in the “here and now”… and everything to do with what we gain for all eternity? Do you really understand what it means to live – and love – generously? Isn’t it time you did?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)