A few weeks back, I was reading an article that I really can't remember the name of or where it came from, but it had a great message concerning the Church and unwed mothers. The point was that the Church acts like the baby is a punishment for the mother's sin, but in reality the wages of sin are death. Death- the wage of any and all sin, big or small. This author did a wonderful job of showing that just because you do not have physical evidence of your sin, it does not mean it did not happen. Just because there is not proof of your sin for the whole Church to see, does not mean you don't still need Jesus, forgiveness, strength, and support. This message came back to my mind this week and made me stop and think a little.
I thought about how oftentimes, we look at people who sin differently than us and think, "Man, they are a mess. Don't they know better?" How often do we push them away, separate ourselves from them, and call it tough love? Or, do we say negative things about people that sin differently than us to show just how bad their sin is? I wondered, "are we really doing this out of tough love or because these people are tough for us to love?
When I was thinking this over, the words that God laid on my heart were, "you're not always easy to love either."
Wow. So this week anytime I thought "gosh, you're annoying," or "can't you see that that's wrong," I've stopped and thought, "Anna, you're not so easy to love either." And, let me tell you what a difference it has made. That simple thought has humbled me and shown me just how important loving people like God loves me is.
It's almost as if we have this mentality that we are all climbing a mountain. It is perfectly logical to assume that normal people are going to slip up from time to time on a steep walk up a mountain, and we all do. Some people trip over rocks while others trip over roots. Those tripped by roots look at those tripping over rocks and think, "Dude! Didn't you see that? Why didn't you step over that? Don't you know you could have fallen and rolled right to the bottom?”
We almost get this idea that some sin is more avoidable than other sins. Truth be told, everyone struggles with different sins. I may be the one who trips over rocks, my boyfriend may be the one who trips over roots, and a family member may be the one who steps in a hole, but we all keep climbing. Even if we truly don't mean to, we sometimes find ourselves looking down on and pitying people who seem to trip more than us or who trip on things that we don't. Instead, we should train ourselves to love that person even when it's tough to do so. Tough love may be the answer for some, but the love is the most important and sometimes the toughest part.
Allowing ourselves to believe that it is easier for everyone to avoid rocks than roots tears away at the love God calls us to have for everyone. 1 Peter 4:8 says, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." Even if the person you are thinking of is not headed in the same direction as you and thinks your beliefs are hogwash, love them anyway. Even when it is hard, love them. They might have hurt you or your family, but love them. Luke 6:35 says, "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."
So, if you take nothing else from this, love each other, stay humble, and always save articles you come across that you like so that you can attribute their ideas to them later.
Mark 12:31
"The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
