For awhile now, several things have been burning inside my heart, and so I've realized that I need to get them out and just put them into words. I've been sitting back for quite some time now, just watching the interaction amongst Christian men and women and also just amongst Christians and the Non-Christian population as well. I'm not going to lie, a lot of the things I've been seeing are not very Christ-like at all. I've been seeing not only some downright mean and hateful things, but some hypocritical words and hurtful expressions have manifest themselves into the hearts of Christians; against themselves and against the Non-Believers they talk to. This blog post today is my attempt at getting some Biblical truths across to you the reader, concerning the mindset and the heart that we as Christians need to possess when interacting with the world, as well as highlighting things we should completely avoid altogether. So here is my attempt at getting out what has been building deeply inside of me for a considerable amount of time now. But through it all, my ultimate desire is for you the reader to really be able to understand God's heart on these matters.
1)To all the people out there that for some reason you don't like: find it in your own evil heart to love them. We all are sin-oriented creatures, who if given the chance ourselves would probably treat each other terribly while looking out for number one. Drop this mindset. It should never exist within you. The reasoning for "not liking someone" will always be sinful, no matter what your genuine excuse you think up is. I really do find it amazing that people spend more time trying to avoid each other and point out all the things we hate about each other moreso than we ever do working things out and looking past our aggrivations and frustrations we have with each other. It's incredibly sad and pathetic if you think about it. We will go above and beyond to tear each other apart and bring each other down, yet it absolutely infuriates us to make nice and show each other love. We can't stand that. It's "too hard" to do. This is because our nature is sinful. Nothing good comes from us, ever. We have nothing pleasing or good enough to give to each other or to God of our own ability or accord. But God is love. God has everything we need. Through His love, we can love one another because He will show us how. It will never matter how many people you're sinful little mind decides it doesn't like. But what will matter is how much love you show towards people, especially the ones you don't like. Be stronger than your hate. Be stronger than your selfish pride. Look on a world that can't help but be buried in sin, and choose to bathe it in love. If you don't and I don't: who will?
For This Passage Meditate on 1 John 4: 7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love".
2)To all the people out there that You might not think are truly Christians: stop judging them, get over yourself, and love them. Let me go ahead and give you an easy answer to one of the most oldest questions ever asked: No. It is impossible to truly know a person inside and out. Furthermore, you will never have even an idea of what a person is thinking, or what's going on in their mind. And to go even further, you have no idea what has happened to a person in their life that has made them who they are or how they view the world through their eyes or what kinds of beliefs they hold, and so on and so forth. So, it is because of this that we should never even think about judging someone. We don't have a right to. Ever. So I pray that you'll go ahead and understand that from the getgo. Just because someone doesn't appear to be a Christian doesn't mean that they are not one at all. They could be struggling with something in their faith and they don't know how to reach out to tell someone or seek help. They could be utterly lost in a world that has chosen not to care about them and help them. They could be scared because they don't understand what God is doing in their life or where He is right now for them. And so, even if their behavior isn't showing Christ-like signs of a person truly walking in the faith and following Jesus, Love Them Anyway. Because honestly it's really all we have to give each other: Love. Anything else we ever end up doing will be something God has chosen to work through us. Like I said earlier, we have nothing to offer. But out of everything you think you don't have, you will always have this: a choice. Maybe not an easy one, but a choice nonetheless. Want some helpful advice: Try using the solid Christian life that you happen to be leading as a compass marker, pointing the way towards Jesus and showing them the amazing love that God has shown you. A team effort is a wonderful way to show each other love. And just so you know, even if you decide to reject them in every possible way, they, just like you (even if you may be blind to it), are of infinite worth and value to God and His Kingdom. Every single one. We are All precious and valuable and beautiful and wonderful in God's eyes, even those of us who don't appear that way. Please possess a Kingdom mindset when viewing each other and not a sinful, human one.
For This Passage Meditate on 1 Peter 2: 1-5 "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house..."
3)To all the people you wish wouldn't judge people in the world: look in the mirror. To be honest, you're probably doing it yourself. And I'm not even going to exclude myself because Lord knows I've done my fair share of it as well. It's never too late to allow God to break down the walls of your sinful heart and truly change who you are so that you can love the world the way He does. If you've found that you have the desire to want to see fairness and equality in the world, and you utterly despise people being mistreated or hurt or judged or cruelly cast aside and scorned by society, then chances are God has been placing into you His heart for the world. As Christians, it should tear us apart to see others judged for reasons they can't help or control. Should we want to slam down the hammer hard and get rid of people who treat others this way? No, not at all. We should want to work with them, showing them love and kindness, in the hopes that by the way we interact with them and the specifc way we treat them that they'll come to realize themselves their wrongdoings. It's not a massive guilt-trip experiment, it's a conviction that as brothers and sisters in Christ we have the responsibility to carry out and make aware to each other. I'm just going to go ahead and tell you now, Hate and Ridicule shouldn't exist in the world. They really shouldn't. But the sad part is they do. And though we can't help the fact that they exist, we can certainly control how we chose to respond to them, even in the face of adversity. They're both alive and well in the hearts and minds of many people who use them every day to further themselves, establish and build selfish egos, desire recognition and the spotlight for reasons that only benefit them, and the list goes on and on. But let's take a step back from everything. Are you one who judges too? Do you find your own self from time to time characterizing your thoughts, your life, your possessions, and your money as a pedestal that you think places you higher and better than other people. If so, you're being a part of the very thing that you hate. You're doing what deep inside your heart you know you can't stand and you know is wrong. When you act this way and think this way towards people you're really only condeming yourself. We are never going to be in a position where we know enough about each other and about human nature to accurately place judgement upon each other. God is the only true just and justifier. Even if you think no one will ever know your pretty little secret thoughts and judgements that you assign to people and keep hidden in your mind, God knows them very well. He knows every little detail of them. We can't escape the judgement of God. It is impossible to keep anything hidden from Him. And the reality is we are all going to be judged accordingly before Him in the end. Please learn to recognize the warning signs of sinful judgment when you feel them coming on, and try and take the plank out of your own eye before pointing out the one in someone else's; because there's a 100% chance you have a huge one stuck in yours.
For This Passage Meditate on Romans 2: 1-3 "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?"
As always, anything I write here in my blog is absolutely directed my way as well. My prayer is that you and I both can look at each other with hearts of love and spirits of humility, understanding that everyone needs the grace of God and the forgiveness and mercy of our savior Jesus everday. We all judge each other from time to time, and when we do it's wrong. We all have our own prideful faults, in which we place ourselves and our positions above others. And we all reach that point where we desire peace and love, and fairness and equality to be what we see when we look out over the world. But in order for any of that to happen we must change our mindset towards each other. Our heart must be the same heart that God has for all of us. Finally, we must each one of us understand that not only is nobody perfect, but also nobody is higher or better than anyone. We're all on the same playing field in God's eyes, and we must learn to love one another right now, so that we can begin to see the world the way God sees it. This is my goal. This is my hope. This is my prayer. God bless you all.
[For this closing passage to really be put into perspective for you, I would love for you to please read Isaiah 53:6 and Romans 3: 23-24]
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