Following in Your Footsteps: If you love...

 

If you love someone, then you are...

Judgmental.

Hateful.

Prejudice.

Disrespectful.

Arrogant.

Jealous...

 

"Say what, Chelsea?! Did you say if you love someone, you are judgmental?"

 

Oops...what I mean is...

 

If you love someone, then you are...

Nonjudgmental.

Kind.

Humble.

Open minded.

Forgiving.

Respectful.

Giving.

Caring.

Compassionate.

Trusting.

Gracious...

 

 If we say we are following Jesus, the second list should make up how we treat others. You see, I thought about writing separate posts on different characteristics of Jesus such as grace, compassion, and ending with love. However, I realized that they all go hand-in-hand.

 

If you love someone, then you are going to be respectful and compassionate..etc.

When I think of Jesus, the first word that comes to my mind is love.

As Christians or Christ followers, our first priority should be to love, then everything else follows along.

 

Of course, like I've said before, we aren't perfect like Jesus, but because of His love for us we can love others.

1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us."

I know that it can be difficult sometimes to love, but love is the best way to embody the Gospel.

 

As a church/body of believers, we should be constantly aware of how we are treating people. We should be always welcoming to everyone and anyone. We should never turn anyone away for any reason. We should love unconditionally, just like Christ did.

He hung out with the sinners...He let a prostitute wash His feet with her hair....He wasn't afraid to interact with people who might be different than Him.

 

For instance, if a lesbian couple walks into a church...how should we treat them?

If we were to ask Jesus, I'm sure He would say, "love them".

We aren't God...we don't have the right to judge them, the only thing we need to do is love them.

Many people say "love the sinner and hate the sin", but Tony Campolo says, "Jesus says, 'love the sinner and hate your own sin'".

 

What if a homeless man walks into a church...how should we treat them?

Do we go lock up everything valuable? Do we tell him to leave?

Jesus wouldn't tell him to leave...Jesus would talk to him...feed him and love him.

 

You see, we have a lot to learn from Jesus. The church needs His compassion, love, generosity, grace (etc..) in order to shine His light throughout the world. Many people think that being a Christian is all about rules, but guess what?

The only 2 things that Jesus commands us to do is to...

love God

&

love others.

 

 So it may be helpful if we are constantly checking ourselves...reminding ourselves that as we grow in relationship with God our love for Him grows and will soon spill out to others.

 

Reading plan for this week:

Monday: Job 35-37

Tuesday: Job 38-39

Wednesday: Job 40-42

Thursday: Psalm 1-8

Friday: Psalm 9-16

Saturday: Psalm 17-20



True Love

Today is the national day of love.

A day where Hallmark, Russell Stover, and florists make most of their money during the year.

A day where we are encouraged to show our love for others.

A day that is focused on romantic love instead of true love.

It may sound like I'm anti-valentine's day, but I'm not. Any day that gives me an excuse to eat chocolate, is a great day to me! However, I wonder what Jesus thinks of this national holiday of love.

I have a feeling He probably doesn't care for it too much. 

You see, Jesus is all about love. 

He is love.

He is love that never ends. 

It's not shown just one day out of the year, but everyday.

It's not a romantic love, but a love that is deeper. 

A love that is so deep that He died for you.

He tells us to love one another, not only on Valentine's Day, but every day. 

 

I may not have a boyfriend, but I have something so much better...

a love that isn't defined by a bouquet of roses or a box of chocolate, 

but a love that is defined by sacrifice. 

A love that strong can be found no where else.

If you are celebrating this day with a special someone, I'm so happy for you!

Thank God for that person and the love you share, but don't forget the love that created love.

Praise God that His love doesn't end, but continues forever and ever. 

True love is found in Jesus.

If you don't know Jesus, you don't know what true love entails. 

If you don't feel love, please know that you are loved...by the creator of the universe!

Please check out this video about true love by Phil Wickham!

1 John 4:19 says "We love because He first loved us." 

Let's have this as our memory verse for the next 2 weeks!

Please keep praying for my dear friend, Katelyn, who lost her mother recently.

ALSO, I promised my friend Marissa a shout out ;) She just started her own blog...check it out http://marissacarrier.blogspot.com/!

What is my purpose?

The past week I have been trying my hardest to rest and be a good patient. So instead of just laying on the couch doing nothing, I decided to read. My mom lent me this book called, "Finding God's Will" by Pastor Gregg Matte and she thought I would love it. She was right! It's a short, easy read and it's jam packed with a lot of good information and advice on "finding God's will". I don't know about you or where you are in your life, but I'm not totally sure what God wants me to do with my life. Like I've said in previous posts, all my life I knew what I wanted to do as a career and now that I've graduated, I feel a little lost. Can you relate? Now just because you read the book doesn't mean that the minute you finish it, God will reveal His specific will for you. Maybe He will for you, who knows, but that's not what happened with me. We can't expect God to just drop a career or whatever in your lap, we have to do some work too. The first point in the book is "to find God's will, do God's will." Let's pause for a second- do you feel like you have a purpose in this world? Wait, let me answer it for you, OF COURSE YOU DO!!! God has a purpose for everyone! He doesn't have a purpose just for the wealthy or the goody-two-shoes, He has a purpose for a each and every person on this earth. Never doubt that truth. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Pastor Gregg explains in the book that God has a general will and specific will. You wanna know what the general will is? It's simple....love God, love one another and share the good news about Jesus Christ. So if you feel totally lost right now, that's a good place to start. While loving others, seeking God and reading His Word, God will reveal to you His specific will for you. In the book he talks about a German proverb that goes like this..."Begin to weave, and God will give you the thread." He also says, "I believe that if we would simply walk with God in our ordinary routines, we would discover that He is present and waiting to show us His will." So no matter how old you are or what stage of life you are a in, know this....it's not too late to find God's will for you. The first step is to start living in His general will - love God, love others, and share with others the love of Christ. Before you say, "but", (I know I'm guilty of speaking that lovely word), ask God for strength, grace, and forgiveness to live in His will. Then try it out! How are you going to love someone today? Who will you share the good news with? 1 John 4:19 - We love because He first loved us. We'll talk about the "but" next time....Show some love today! :)