Recently God has been teaching me
about what it means to really love and serve others, without benefits and
agenda, as Christ calls us to. My prayer so far has been, God help me to serve
and to love well in what I do, but it has been just a prayer, not a call to
action. Until recently.
A few situations have come up the
last few months that God has used to teach me and grow me as a Christian.
A younger friend was struggling
with a sin and was being very much judged and discriminated against for what
she was doing. But the worst part of all is that those who claimed to love her
and serve God had turned their backs on her. We were very much confused why
this was happening; when this was the time she needed support and love the
most.
But my only thought was that this
is such a hard time for her, and that those who should be supporting her and
helping her are not.
It wasn’t until a few weeks later when the situation was at
a stand still, that I had talked with a friend about why these people weren’t
helping her. Their answer was first, why aren’t they taking care of the
situation. Their second idea was, why can’t you do something about it?
As I began thinking more, I
thought, YES!, why can’t I, and why am I NOT doing something about this
already? Christ did not come to save the healthy, but the sick. I am not
perfect, and God has forgiven me, so why is it our place as Christians to
decide who deserves God’s grace and love? This was the perfect opportunity to
show Christ’s love, not just by being her friend and helping her through this
situation, but by helping find a solution to some of the consequences.
This whole ordeal made me start to
think about how many times I have missed serving and blessing others in
Christ’s name, just because their problem wasn’t my problem. I think that is
what we often think - it doesn’t involve me, so it isn’t necessary for ME to do
anything, when that is EXACTLY what God wants us to do. He has called us to go
where there is hurt, brokenness, and confusion, and not to turn and run the
other way. He is creating opportunities all the time for us to jump in and love
others with his love, but we don’t always take advantage of that. Instead of
judging others because of their sins, or problems, God has called us to love
and restore, and we can’t do that by sitting on the sidelines. We have to make
other people’s problems, our problems by caring for them as Christ did.
Sometimes serving others looks like a physical action with no spiritual change, but God has reminded me time and time again that his love is violent and powerful, and with just one action on our part, his love can squeeze into a small place and take over. If we don’t go to, and be with those who are hurt, powerless, and looked down on, who will?
Sometimes serving others looks like a physical action with no spiritual change, but God has reminded me time and time again that his love is violent and powerful, and with just one action on our part, his love can squeeze into a small place and take over. If we don’t go to, and be with those who are hurt, powerless, and looked down on, who will?
