1 John 4:20
If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister,
that person is a liar; for if we do not love people we can see, how can
we love God, whom we cannot see?
There are SO many verses on love. I just can't seem to get this one out of my mind. I wonder who is putting it there? ;)
This verse bluntly says two things. 1. you.are.a.liar. if...you say you love God but you can think of even one person in your life you struggle loving.
How do you know if you aren't loving someone? Here's some help.
1 Corinthians 13:4-10
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
Simple? No, but at least it's right.stinkin'. there.
The other very blunt thing that 1 John 4:20 points out is that when we do not love everyone, we cannot love God fully.
Oh. huh. Well that sucks because I really want to love God and I want to tell people that I do.
Well, there is hope. God understands our brokenness, hence sending his only son to die for us. We don't have to carry the weight of our sin, guilt, shame but we do need to strive to change. We do need to recognize where we fall short and try and make it right.
I think, for me at least, the first thing I need to do in changing to be more like Christ is to be willing to hear God call me out. Whether through the bible, conversations with others or as I post a bible tweet thinking of someone else who needs it. Ouch. Y'all ever done that? Yeah, me either...............*shame*
Proverbs 12:1
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
We are a wicked people who need our savior every.single.day. We need to be quick to hear God, then apply it. Be ware of what comes next, though! Satan isn't for us and he doesn't want us to grow. The enemy is at work.
Ephesians 6:12
12 For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Do you struggle with loving someone or a group of people the way God calls you to? Do you struggle loving anyone the way Christ loves them, loves you?
I sure do. So, what do we do about this? Do we throw our hands up and say, "I can't love them...it's too darn hard!" or maybe, "They seriously need to see the ways they need to change before I can even begin to love them."
No. God doesn't give exuses as to who we can exclude after he tells us to love. He tells us to love and for those of us who have given their life over to Jesus, that we have the Holy Spirit to lean in on when it's hard. And it will be sometimes.
From there, ask God specifically what you are to do with the person or persons you aren't loving well. Not only ask Him to help you love them better but ask what action, verb, get-off-your-seat thing you could do to show them love.
It may even be a confession to them. Those are quite powerful (when your "reasons why" are not included)
From there, ask God specifically what you are to do with the person or persons you aren't loving well. Not only ask Him to help you love them better but ask what action, verb, get-off-your-seat thing you could do to show them love.
It may even be a confession to them. Those are quite powerful (when your "reasons why" are not included)
We must be willing to see our own sin first and how we need to change before we go and point out the sins of others. Pride truly comes before a fall.
I could go on and on about loving because God's word says SO much but this is, in a nutshell, what Gods been saying to me and my struggle with loving. I like to share with others so you too can be encouraged that you're not alone in this life and we all mess up. With a community of people gathered around where we can be free to fail and be given grace as we try again . Slowly becoming more like our sweet savior.
Amen.
Well put my new friend!
ReplyDelete~Amber
I've been reading now and then and it's such an encouragement to hear from you. I commented a few weeks ago about our son, who has seizures and some delays, gluten intolerance, etc. We had a disappointing appointment with a neurologist yesterday, who basically told us his seizures couldn't have anything to do with diet, so I started into my own research again, found some info I'd not come across before about seizures that are helped by vitamin B6. We're praying that we can find a neurologist who will consider this for Liam. I wanted to let you know about it. Perhaps you have already tried B6 injections, but from what I was reading it seemed like it's often an overlooked therapy, but easy to test. (Just extra B6 under the care of a doc familiar with it). Praying that perhaps this will help Zeke. It's called Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy.
ReplyDeletekatie
Thanks for reading and commenting and for your encouragement! First off, yes, please find a neuro who will be willing to work with diet. All of Zeke's tests didn't show that diet would work...diet has literally changed him to seeming to be near death, to a child who clearly is still seizing, but we get smiles and laughter from...I do not mean to be pushy, but please pray and consider getting him on the ketogenic diet. It doesn't "work" for everyone (as in their seizures do not go away completely) but for Zeke, it has been miraculous in that he isn't having the seizures that last 10-15 minutes long where we called 911 up to 2 times a week...diet is by far one of the best things for issues we have, all of us...The GAPS diet is something we're considering. Also, there's some blood cleaning out thing that, with combined with the keto diet, have caused kids who "will never be healed" get all healed up and prove to hive high I.Q.'s. I would love to help you and get you started if you're interested...it's not as hard as people say or even, in my case, my neuro convinced me for 2 months. It's truly saved his life...we just need to keep tweeking things.
DeleteWhat area do you live, do you mind me asking? I'll be praying God's peace over your whole family, healing for Liam and of course wisdom. God LOVES when we ask for these things!!!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
:) :) Let me know how I can serve you and thanks for the B12 info! I'll bring it up with my next doctor!
OH! Look up Anat Baniel on YouTube...she works with autistic kids but has had miraculous results with her work!
Blessings...and I'll shut up now ;)
There is no greater love than God sending His Son for us. Thanks for the post. He is worthy to be praised!
ReplyDeleteWe live in Southern Ohio, near the Wurzelbacher's. We are going to look for a new Neurologist who will consider gluten connections and the B6 dependant Epilepsy. The hard thing for us that Liam goes without seizures for months at a time. It's just that when he does have them they are SO long. So medication doesn't really make sense for us. Same goes for the ketogenic diet. We do eat very well, lots of protein, very little sugar, lots of fruits and veggies and not a lot of carby foods. I am thankful Liam does not have extremely frequent seizures, but obviously they are still serious and we want to find answers. Thank you for the info on Anat Baniel. I will try to watch soon. If you can reccomend a neuro in central Ohio that will consider diet, that would be great. As the B6 dependant epilepsy goes, it is very easy to test. One test is genetic, the other is just giving them a high intravenous dose of B6 at the hospital. The seizures should stop within hours if it's B6 dependant epilepsy. Hopefully your doc can help you guys arrange a trial run. Thank you for the encouragement and prayer!
ReplyDelete