Monday morning I woke up with the realization that I had to do lead my department in devotions that morning. I had precisely two hours to come up with an idea, figure out what I would like to say, get ready, and drive to work. It was not the best timing on my part. Some of you may think "Oh, that's easy... it's a devotion, just open the bible and figure it out." My mind does not think like that. This goes for most things in life... I cannot just come up with a devotion if it has no meaning to me. I cannot just talk about freewill or grace if I have not been thinking or experiencing it recently. Same goes for a speech, I cannot just come up with a speech out of no where... it has to come from the heart. So I wanted this devotion to come from the heart. I sat on my bed for a few moments and pondered on where I was in life- which can be quite tricky at times.
Got it- I have been trying to figure out what love means. What does it really mean? Does love have strings attached? Can we give it freely? Are we able to give it freely? Do we treat it like money or some kind of commodity where we expect something in return? Do we even attempt to love- or do we sit in our own pride all the time? Do we only chose to love people when they will love us in return? Do we have an agenda with people- or do we let life happen and love along the way?
These are just a few of the questions I have been asking myself recently. The reason this has been brought to my attention is because I want to intentionally love others. I really do, but I struggle with how it looks. If anyone has read "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller, he spells it out pretty clearly.
I do not want to just say I love someone. I want my actions to be an outpouring of my love for them. I want my mind and heart to align my work. That is so much harder then it sounds. Try it for a work day- then tell me how it is.
Anyways, I talked to my group about love as a commodity in the Church. Love has become something that has strings attached to it- or at least it does sometimes. Do we just hang out with non-Christians so we can tell them about Jesus? What if they already know but aren't interested? Is it not possible to just love? Some people would probably say that loving people is sharing about Jesus and if you do not share about Jesus then you really are not loving. I agree with that to a certain extent. But what if someone already knows where I stand, I have shared, and my life (hopefully) reflects that... would you continue to hang out with them? Of course you should.
I am getting off track- but my point is that love is something that should be given freely- as much as humanly possible without being stupid or careless. It should have no bounds. I wish we could love regardless of opinions, political views, religious views, and economic backgrounds. Most of the time it just does not work out like that.
Just a few random thoughts. I have met a lot of people who love deeply, so do not get me wrong. I just think our world needs a lot more love- which I am sure everyone agrees on. I need to start loving more too, so do not worry we are in this together.
