all you need is love

So I'm going to a girl's bible study and we just started on colossians, and I wanted to share something we talked about last night. Something that I need a lot of help with. LUV.

How are people suppose to know that we as Christians are different? John 13:34-35 tells us by loving others as He loved us. How did He love us? Unconditionally. Without limit. With an extreme love that is beyond our understanding. Imagine the following- you are completely innocent but wrongly accused of something someone else has done aaaand the penalty is death. You know EXACTLY who the real culprit is and you even have all the evidence you need to prove them guilty. Yet you say nothing. So far sounds like something I would never do but just wait.. Then you're getting ready to be put to death in front of a crowd of people. And there is that person. Pointing and laughing. Saying hateful things about you. Turning their back on you as you die. And you still say nothing, fully knowing that person may never understand or appreciate what you did for them, or feel any remorse or be sorry. What if it wasn't just one random person, but every single person you've ever loved? And that you thought loved you? We tend to focus on the physical pain of Christ dying on the cross and sure it was a horrifying death but can you imagine what kind of emotional pain that caused? Taking on the weight of the sins of the world, a world that is enemies of God? Even if we're Christians we've all been enemies of God at some point. We've all not loved him, even hated him (James 4:4). Can't be friends with the world and loving God at the same time. I'd say I'm pretty friendly with a lot of worldly things. Like BFF kind of friendly. And Jesus came and died for us who would at best constantly choose sin over Him (by the second), at worst would reject His name forever even doing all in their power to destroy Him and His people while on earth. In that moment, hanging on a cross, who has ever deserved to be more angry, more resentful, more frustrated, to just say I give up, yall ain't worth it! And now every time we sin to look back and say, hello? Do you so easily forget that I did this for you? And to point out every fault, every way we have hurt Him. Or to say, sorry. You lost your chance, that's it. Nope! He loves us regardless. We are in a constant state of being loved and there's nothing we can do or not do that could ever change that. It's a love we can't even fathom.

Last year I had dermabrasion done. It "smooths" the skin aka they sandpapered off the majority of my face. If you'd like to see something gross, I'll send you a picture of what I looked like after they did it. Scratch that, I'll just go ahead and swallow my pride and post a picture on here...

SICK. Lemme tell you, I would not do this again and I wouldn't have done it if I'd have known what it entailed. My face was so raw for the next week it hurt to touch, to shower, to do anything. And it took a lot longer after that before the skin was normal again. Too painful. What if this was God's outlook on us? Looking down at what our world has become and saying if I'd have only known that this was gonna be how things turned out, not worth it. All the pain, I wouldn't have done it if I'd known everyone would still be rejecting me. But he doesn't! If only one person would have been saved by Him coming and dying, that would not have stopped Him. It was never not worth it to Him.

So I John 3:10-11 says LOVE is how the world knows we are children of God. We love one another. Period. Not we love one another... as long as that person loves me in return! Or if they deserve it! Or if they aren't difficult and challenging to love! No way outta this one, no exit clause. Just love. And that is evidence to a watching world that there's something different, that our hearts have been changed. Love regardless because God loved me regardless! Ok so major problem... that's like incredibly hard. Incredibly unnatural for us humans. Colossians 1:11 says that we are being strengthened with ALL power so that we may have great endurance and patience. Endurance to not succumb, to stand firm in the midst of trials, to not give in to what is easy. And patience- "the bearing of annoyance, misfortune, or pain w/o complaint, loss of temper, or irritation"- self restraint, slowness in avenging wrongs, not seeking wrath or revenge, what we think is our rights. I've been hit hard with this patience thing a lot lately. Thanks Jesus! You know I need it bad! haha. When I want to snap back at someone, when I want to walk away from loving someone, when I want someone to know just what they'e done to me! (or atleast tell other people what someone has done to me for a little commiseration), I should stop in that moment. I must ask for patience. (sidenote: just had this image. Jesus, sitting around a table up in heaven with some bros, and saying, 'ugh you won't believe what that girl has done this time' and then everyone around would be like 'yeah, that girl is cray-cray, when's she gonna get her act together? why do you put up with that?'... yeah that doesn't happen. If we're with Christ our sins are forgiven and he sees us white as snow! righteous! (Col 1:22) And those that don't know Him, he's just waiting for them to come to Him and he'll be there with open arms). So God can bestow me with the ability to be patient, to love. We are empowered with the kind of love that Christ loved! Fav verse ever- Ephesians 3:20- his power is at work within us. We can love as he loved and forgive as he forgave. We can extend patience because we're forgiven much and loved much.

This is def convicting to me. I have failed at this time and time again and I will continue to fail at it time and time again. But I know that I'm a work in progress and that God will finish the work He's begun in me (Philippians 1:6). I tend to get overwhelmed by my sin and how far I feel like I have to go. But that's me being impatient again. God doesn't take us and in one second we're suddenly perfect. But I can look back on my life several months ago and see what He's done. And as long as I can continue to do that, as long as I'm moving in the right direction and growing in Him and taking his truths and applying them, then that is all he asks. I still have to convince myself that that's the truth...