Love Like Him

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This picture was taken by a friend last week at a church event. That's my boy - being both pulled up and pushed up by others - to get to the top of a wall. Is this not what the body of Christ should emulate? When people are stumbling, shouldn't we be there to grab their hand and pull them up? To come behind them and support them? If not for a few key people in my life who loved and supported me at my very worst, I could still be in a pit of misery and shame. 

 The enemy is a liar. A thief. A deceiver. He thrives on destruction. He knows he is defeated so he seeks to make us operate in defeat. If we know God is the giver of all good things, we know the enemy is the opposite. Where we have assurance, he utters doubt. Where we have peace, he speaks confusion. Where we have joy, he whispers anxiety. Where we have love, he aims to breed hate. 

 Let's focus on that last one for a minute: Where we have love, he aims to breed hate. Because we know he is a sneak and a slimeball, we can be certain that he is not going to exchange love for disdain in a flashy way. Nope, he will do it slowly. He will cause riffs. Make us question pure motives. Tell us lies that make us wonder if our feelings should trump Christ's command to LOVE one another. It will never get better. That relationship is beyond repair. That friendship was only for a season. That person will never understand us. Life is better without having to deal with trying to love that one.

 "But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is complete. This is how we know we are in Him: The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked." - 1 John 2:5-6

 Christ loves us with a sacrificial love. He saw our sinful ways, and gave His life for us because He knew what we could become in Him: Blameless. Holy. Complete. If He would do that for me, then can't I, too, see past the humanness of others and see a beloved child of the King?

 It serves us well to remember this: As hard as it may be to swallow at times, these words we declare as promises from God to us, also ring true for those who hurt us. Written for the ones we don't understand. That individual we don't agree with. That person who seems angry at the world. 

 Someone once told me that love is not a feeling, but a decision. So let's decide today to love like Him...not just "in word or speech, but in action and in truth." 

 When I showed my boy this picture, he was quick to inform me that he was not the only one who needed help. "A lot of people were helping each other, Mom."

 I love that. They were helping each other. Let's do that today. Offer support. Be someones biggest cheerleader. We can all use a helping hand at times.

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