"When the world seems too loud, we must be quiet. When the world seems too violent, we much be peaceful. When the world seems too evil, we must be good." Glennon Doyle Melton, Momastery
"...and may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow." 1 Thessalonians 3:12
To say there is a lot going on in our world is an understatement. Doesn't it always seem to happen that way; everything happening at once? Our world is in chaos. I believe it always is but shows more loudly at times. People are hurting; hurting in a bad way. From natural disasters, to protests, riots, supreme court rulings, and polarizing interviews on TV, the world as we know it has come crashing down in a pile of rubble so big none of us feel equipped to tackle it. We sit back chins fallen on the floor in utter amazement that this could be our world. We spew our opinions and how we would handle the situation better, yet we don't move. We are glued to our TV and computer screens looking for a glimmer of hope that would will our hearts and souls into action. Our opinions cloud our minds and judgment fuels the fire lit by media and social networks. We become enraged instead of still. We shout instead of pray. We talk instead of listen. Our system fails. The next generation loses because the grown-ups can't figure this mess out. We have lost the ability to see value in others as pride clouds our vision. We all lose when we lack understanding, grace, and peace.
Our pastor says, "If lost people matter to God, they should matter to us" A LOT. We all nod in agreement and a few mutter an amen from time to time. We all want to believe this statement to be true. We all convince ourselves that we agree that people matter; that they matter to God and us. Yet, we don't necessarily live this way. It seems as though we have a little box that people must fit in: you must fit x, y, and z in order to matter to me and, in some people's minds, to God. You can only make certain mistakes before we listen to you. You can't hold certain opinions if you want us to walk alongside you. We have an unwritten list of qualifications that you must meet before you matter. If you disagree or live a life differently from mine, than your value is depleted.
God doesn't give a list of qualifications for us to fulfill before He can see us as valuable. He loved us while we were still sinners ("But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8). We are all His children whether black, white, brown, gay, straight, rich, or poor. We are His. His desire is to love us and unite us back to Himself. Our job is to let Him. He doesn't tell us to love others only if. He tells us to grow our love for others exponentially until it overflows. That means we love the woman who had an abortion. We love the rioter who sees no other option but to destroy other's property in order to be heard. We love the criminal, the oppressed, the ugly, the mean, the bad, the lost because, at one point in our lives, we were lost too and we needed that love. We are not called to love their sins. We are not called to agree with every facet of others' lives or agree with every opinion they hold. We are called to love, to listen, to walk with until they see Jesus.
I wish Scott was writing this post. He is so much more eloquent and far less emotional when discussing hot button issues. One thing he said when we were talking about the top news stories of the day is what matters is what we are going to do and not what others aren't doing. What another person chooses to do with his or her life is between them and God not them and us. I am not implying that people aren't held accountable for their actions or that there shouldn't be laws to protect the general public. what I am saying is that there are many people I disagree with. Many. However, just because I disagree with someone does not mean that they do not deserve the same rights afforded to me. Refusing rights to others depletes their human value. And if God values all of us, than so should we. I think it scares many Christians, and non-believers alike, to say we will value and love someone who lives a life that goes against ours or the Word because people will judge us and think we agree with their lifestyle or are condoning it, so we ignore them or fight to strip them of their rights as a human being. Until we realize that the battle is NOT between each other and the battle is for people's souls, we will continue to have the problems we face today. What people choose to do or not to do in their personal lives is not our place to judge. That's God's job. Let Him work it out. Yes, we live according to our convictions, according to the Bible (not man's opinion of the Bible but what is actually written), vote according to our values, and fight injustices. I'm not saying we drop our convictions, values, or beliefs. But, our focus should be valuing each other not tearing one another down because we disagree. The account you and I must give when we stand before God is not what others did, but what we did; what did we do with Jesus? Did we devalue a life that He created? Did we choose to be violent when we should have been peaceful? Were we good stewards of the good when evil prevailed? Did we only love when the other person fit our mold? Did we serve others relentlessly regardless of their lifestyle or life choices? Did lost people really matter to us or did they only matter when it was easy or to our benefit? Jesus valued everyone, even His enemies.
Micah 6:8 syas, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." God has shown us what is good through Jesus. He desires us to love mercy. That means that we are merciful to those who do wrong. We are merciful when people make choices that completely contradict our faith. Mercy doesn't mean we've excused or agree with the behavior. Mercy means we love even if. He desires us to be just in our actions; fair, right, and true. That means everyone deserves to be heard even if we completely disagree. Everyone deserves an opportunity at life. Everyone. This doesn't excuse their behaviors. No. Consequences will come somehow someway. Trust God in this. He also calls us to be humble. We have got to drop the pride. Our pride creates Baltimores. Our pride disables peace. Our pride stifles positive action. Our pride keeps us stuck.
At the very root of every human being is a need to be loved and valued. We all need to be heard and to know that we matter. The Word was created for us to learn from and follow to live a life that mimics our Savior. We can't do that if we are throwing the Book at people. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. We need to listen to one another more and give of our opinions less. Difficult discussions need to happen. We all can agree on that. However, nothing will be settled if no one is being heard. We share this world. It is not yours. It is not mine. It belongs to all of us. We must come together and find a way.
A Prayer For All Of Us Today
"May God bless us with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships - so that we may seek truth boldly and love deep with our hearts.
May God bless us with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people - so that we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless us with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish - so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and transform that pain to joy.
May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we really CAN make a difference in this world - so that we are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done."- The Benedictines
YES, PLEASE. Send us discomfort, holy anger, tears and enough foolishness to use it all as fuel to heal the world.
Let us pray for Nepal and Baltimore and all those hurting but while we pray let us also MOVE OUR FEET AND REACH OUT OUR HANDS. After we have learned enough, let us get off the couch, turn off the tv, stop lamenting that we can't heal the whole world and GO OUTSIDE AND HEAL THE WORLD WITHIN OUR REACH.
Let us do for one what we wish we could do for the world. Small things today. Small things with great love.
Amen.
~Glennon Doyle Melton, Momastery
Love & Blessings,
Megan
"...and may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow." 1 Thessalonians 3:12
To say there is a lot going on in our world is an understatement. Doesn't it always seem to happen that way; everything happening at once? Our world is in chaos. I believe it always is but shows more loudly at times. People are hurting; hurting in a bad way. From natural disasters, to protests, riots, supreme court rulings, and polarizing interviews on TV, the world as we know it has come crashing down in a pile of rubble so big none of us feel equipped to tackle it. We sit back chins fallen on the floor in utter amazement that this could be our world. We spew our opinions and how we would handle the situation better, yet we don't move. We are glued to our TV and computer screens looking for a glimmer of hope that would will our hearts and souls into action. Our opinions cloud our minds and judgment fuels the fire lit by media and social networks. We become enraged instead of still. We shout instead of pray. We talk instead of listen. Our system fails. The next generation loses because the grown-ups can't figure this mess out. We have lost the ability to see value in others as pride clouds our vision. We all lose when we lack understanding, grace, and peace.
Our pastor says, "If lost people matter to God, they should matter to us" A LOT. We all nod in agreement and a few mutter an amen from time to time. We all want to believe this statement to be true. We all convince ourselves that we agree that people matter; that they matter to God and us. Yet, we don't necessarily live this way. It seems as though we have a little box that people must fit in: you must fit x, y, and z in order to matter to me and, in some people's minds, to God. You can only make certain mistakes before we listen to you. You can't hold certain opinions if you want us to walk alongside you. We have an unwritten list of qualifications that you must meet before you matter. If you disagree or live a life differently from mine, than your value is depleted.
God doesn't give a list of qualifications for us to fulfill before He can see us as valuable. He loved us while we were still sinners ("But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8). We are all His children whether black, white, brown, gay, straight, rich, or poor. We are His. His desire is to love us and unite us back to Himself. Our job is to let Him. He doesn't tell us to love others only if. He tells us to grow our love for others exponentially until it overflows. That means we love the woman who had an abortion. We love the rioter who sees no other option but to destroy other's property in order to be heard. We love the criminal, the oppressed, the ugly, the mean, the bad, the lost because, at one point in our lives, we were lost too and we needed that love. We are not called to love their sins. We are not called to agree with every facet of others' lives or agree with every opinion they hold. We are called to love, to listen, to walk with until they see Jesus.
I wish Scott was writing this post. He is so much more eloquent and far less emotional when discussing hot button issues. One thing he said when we were talking about the top news stories of the day is what matters is what we are going to do and not what others aren't doing. What another person chooses to do with his or her life is between them and God not them and us. I am not implying that people aren't held accountable for their actions or that there shouldn't be laws to protect the general public. what I am saying is that there are many people I disagree with. Many. However, just because I disagree with someone does not mean that they do not deserve the same rights afforded to me. Refusing rights to others depletes their human value. And if God values all of us, than so should we. I think it scares many Christians, and non-believers alike, to say we will value and love someone who lives a life that goes against ours or the Word because people will judge us and think we agree with their lifestyle or are condoning it, so we ignore them or fight to strip them of their rights as a human being. Until we realize that the battle is NOT between each other and the battle is for people's souls, we will continue to have the problems we face today. What people choose to do or not to do in their personal lives is not our place to judge. That's God's job. Let Him work it out. Yes, we live according to our convictions, according to the Bible (not man's opinion of the Bible but what is actually written), vote according to our values, and fight injustices. I'm not saying we drop our convictions, values, or beliefs. But, our focus should be valuing each other not tearing one another down because we disagree. The account you and I must give when we stand before God is not what others did, but what we did; what did we do with Jesus? Did we devalue a life that He created? Did we choose to be violent when we should have been peaceful? Were we good stewards of the good when evil prevailed? Did we only love when the other person fit our mold? Did we serve others relentlessly regardless of their lifestyle or life choices? Did lost people really matter to us or did they only matter when it was easy or to our benefit? Jesus valued everyone, even His enemies.
Micah 6:8 syas, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." God has shown us what is good through Jesus. He desires us to love mercy. That means that we are merciful to those who do wrong. We are merciful when people make choices that completely contradict our faith. Mercy doesn't mean we've excused or agree with the behavior. Mercy means we love even if. He desires us to be just in our actions; fair, right, and true. That means everyone deserves to be heard even if we completely disagree. Everyone deserves an opportunity at life. Everyone. This doesn't excuse their behaviors. No. Consequences will come somehow someway. Trust God in this. He also calls us to be humble. We have got to drop the pride. Our pride creates Baltimores. Our pride disables peace. Our pride stifles positive action. Our pride keeps us stuck.
At the very root of every human being is a need to be loved and valued. We all need to be heard and to know that we matter. The Word was created for us to learn from and follow to live a life that mimics our Savior. We can't do that if we are throwing the Book at people. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. We need to listen to one another more and give of our opinions less. Difficult discussions need to happen. We all can agree on that. However, nothing will be settled if no one is being heard. We share this world. It is not yours. It is not mine. It belongs to all of us. We must come together and find a way.
A Prayer For All Of Us Today
"May God bless us with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships - so that we may seek truth boldly and love deep with our hearts.
May God bless us with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people - so that we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless us with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish - so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and transform that pain to joy.
May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we really CAN make a difference in this world - so that we are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done."- The Benedictines
YES, PLEASE. Send us discomfort, holy anger, tears and enough foolishness to use it all as fuel to heal the world.
Let us pray for Nepal and Baltimore and all those hurting but while we pray let us also MOVE OUR FEET AND REACH OUT OUR HANDS. After we have learned enough, let us get off the couch, turn off the tv, stop lamenting that we can't heal the whole world and GO OUTSIDE AND HEAL THE WORLD WITHIN OUR REACH.
Let us do for one what we wish we could do for the world. Small things today. Small things with great love.
Amen.
~Glennon Doyle Melton, Momastery
Love & Blessings,
Megan
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