Near
the end of “The Invitation of God” section of the video and study
guide of the book Unfinished Mr. Stearns suggests that the best way to
make our choices according to God’s way in the world is to ask the
question “What would LOVE do?” For
whatever reason, this question really resonated with me.
It made me pause and reflect.
For me, in my personal life, even during some of my darkest
moments, life always finds a way to remind me in sometimes small but
always extraordinary ways that goodness and light still do exist despite
all the evil and hopelessness in this world . . . . that is, if I give myself
permission to see it. This is probably why this question opened my eyes
to this simple thought. Now,
that is no easy task in moments which are enveloped with despair and
fear, when it feels as though everything I believe to be true is
demonstrating itself to be false, and when the kind of God “I “so
desperately want to embrace is not showing up in my life in any
appreciable way.
I
got to thinking about my own life and some of the places where I find
myself struggling, stressed out, worried, or stuck right now. I can see
that instead of asking what love would do, I'm often asking other, less
inspiring questions to myself like, "What should I do?" or
“Why can’t I have that?” or “I don’t think that is fair.”
Notice the common thread here of the word “I” in many of my
comments. But when I heard
this question: “What would LOVE do?” a few weeks ago it sort of
stuck and took on meaning for me. I find myself repeating or
asking those four words often. When I have paused and acted on my
answer, I have always been blessed about the decision I have made to
follow God’s prompting instead of my own selfish motives.
So
what if we all actually ask ourselves, "What would LOVE do?"
in all of the important areas of our lives, especially the most
challenging ones? I bet that it would dramatically alter not only how we
relate to people and circumstances, but also would alter what we did and
said, and ultimately how we valued ourselves on the inside.
Maybe in some small way our actions cover the world with the
light of Christ. . . . right where we are at. If we're courageous enough to
ask, to truly listen to the answers we receive and to act on them from a
place of real love, compassion and truth, we will have the opportunity
to transform lives and relationships in a real and profound way. That is
the kingdom of God.
God
wants to use you and he wants to use me to change the world.
He has called us to do something greater than ourselves by
following him. To quote
Pastor Jeff last week “Each of us is invited by Jesus to make a
fundamental change in the world, one person, and one community at a
time”. He has extended an
invitation. It is up to us
to R.S.V.P. So I challenge
you to ask yourself . . . . "What would LOVE do?”
For more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
No comments:
Post a Comment