A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.-John 13:34-35
Love. What is love? It’s the question every human
asks, and emotion every human seeks out. We humans have such a dim, selfish
view of love. We have the“what have you done for me lately” kind of
emotion.
Lately I’ve been on a personal journey. A journey
God set me on nearly two years ago. Teaching me, by little baby steps what it
means to love Him and serve Him.
I didn’t want to take this journey, I felt I was
growing in my faith, I was serving. Why, did I have to do some of this other
“stuff”?
Two years ago, God brought a young woman and her two
children into our lives. They have constantly been woven into our story, God’s
story. Recently when I sought treatment to have her wisdom teeth removed, I
faced a few obstacles. Many judged whether or not she actually needed the
treatment, many thought we should just let her “figure it out on her own”.
Having seen huge progress in her life and her personal relationship with Jesus,
I knew God was nudging me to be her advocate. I mean, really…why else was I given such a loud
voice? If I can’t use it to serve God, what purpose does it serve?
What I realized today, it wasn’t about teeth, it
wasn’t about who deserved what, but about love.
It was about Christians stepping up at showing love.
Many came forward to help. One selfless family cared for her two children for
two solid days and nights. One woman said to me “sometimes we can’t ignore
God’s prompting in our hearts”.This is the kind of love which only comes from
the Holy Spirit. God calls us to love, not judge, period. I’ve spent a lot of
time being convicted of this. Being shown, by allowing the Holy Spirit to
convict me, I am to judge NO ONE. Not the mom on welfare, not they annoying guy
on his cell phone at the store, not even Honey Boo Boo’s family. (Google Honey
Boo Boo if you have no idea what I’m talking about) In the eyes of God, we are
all sinners. Loving people is hard work, something we can’t do on our own. We
must ask the God to break our hearts and being willing to change. Loving people
who already love us is easy.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to
you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.-Luke 6:32
The substance of our love should be the way
non-believers see who we are. It is a requirement for our faithful testimony. It
is the virtual tattoo on our foreheads. It’s how we live.
The first night after her procedure, I stayed up
with Brit and slept in the other recliner next to her. In the early morning
hours I woke to silence, listening for a moment for the sounds of her breath.
The night before He had whispered to me, “she needs a mother”, and I listened.
I didn’t want to. I really wanted to sleep in my own bed, next to my husband,
but I heard the voice and I listened. I did what needed to be done. I didn’t
want to, but I knew I would do it anyway.
Three days later after getting her settled back home
with the kids, I received the text below. Nothing in the world could be more
valuable to me than these words. I could have never experienced this joy, had I
not been willing to hear His commandments.