What Am I Thinking About You?

Greetings Dear Reader,

Although I like riddle games I am not starting one.  I am, rather, pondering the love that I spoke about yesterday.  Since my actions begin with my thoughts I need to consider how I think of others if I am going to truly love them.  I must ponder how I view others in order to love them properly.

I cannot hope to love someone if my first thoughts when I see or consider them are unloving.  If my thinking begins with “Oh no; here comes….  He is such a liar” how can I hope to be loving toward that person.  I have lied.  If my response is to compare the quantity and quality of our lies then I am measuring things against man’s standards and not God’s.

If I think negatively about anyone then I am rejecting someone whom God loves.  It is in my thoughts that I begin the path away from loving God and man.  What I think about anyone, even the very least of Christ’s brothers exposes my own sin and self-centeredness. 

So how do I combat this?  I think the first step is in remembering who I am.  I am a “covetous old sinner.”   My very best day is a dirty rag when properly compared to God’s holiness.  Any time I think of myself as better than others I have forgotten this truth.  My brokenness needs to be an opportunity for me to be kinder and more gracious.  If I see who I am clearly then I cannot be honest and still focus on the sin of others to define them.

I need to see every man as God sees him.  “The end of all my prayers is to care like my Lord cares.”  When I focus on the unlovely things about someone I cannot do this.  When my thinking is absorbed with another’s faults or my hurts over his or her wrongs then I cannot see them as Christ does. 

It is too easy for me to get filled up with what is wrong with someone and miss the beauty and grace of who they are to Jesus.  If I truly wish to love others I must begin with that thought about them.  I must love someone for who they are to God and not how I see them.  If I focus on this thought then anger, bitterness, and judgment have nowhere to sit.  If I think well of others and I can take steps toward loving God the way I should.

I Want to be More Like Jesus – Keith Green

As each day passes by,

I feel my love run dry.

I get so weary, worn,

And tossed round in the storm.

Well I'm blind to others' needs,

And I'm tired of planting seeds.

I seem to have a wealth,

Of so many thoughts about myself.

I want to, I need to, be more like Jesus.

I want to, I need to, be more like Him.

Our Father's will was done,

By giving us His Son,

Who paid the highest cost,

To point us to the cross.

And when I think of Him,

Taking on the whole world's sin,

I take one look at me,

Compared to what I'm called to be.

I want to, I need to, be more like Jesus.

I want to, I need to, be more like Him.

Remember, there's no greater love,

Than to lay down your life for a friend.

The end of all my prayers,

Is to care like my Lord cares.

My one and only goal,

His image in my soul.

Yes my weakness is revealed,

But by His stripes I'm healed.

He's faithful and He's true,

To complete the work he begins in you.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."