Greetings Dear Reader,
Often there was a time when my Grandfather would reach a
specific point in his sermons. He would
say, “Time for me to quit preaching and get to meddling.” Those who knew his preaching knew what was
next. He was about to focus his attention on application.
I am going to meddle a bit.
Please be positive that it all applies to me as well. There is never a moment where I point the
finger at you. Rather, I draw
applications that can put my thoughts into action. I point out actions that will demonstrate my
faith. Some of them are universal.
Ponder those you claim to love and how you currently treat
them. Push away the thoughts that urge
you to focus on their faults and failures.
Dismiss the urge to justify your anger and outrage. Consider if your treatment of those you love
reflects Christ’s love for you. Ruminate
on how much they must need to see the love of Jesus if they act the way they do
toward you or others.
The second thing to consider is if you would wish to be
treated as you are treating others. Do
you want to be ignored, rejected, dishonored, or dismissed? No one’s sin is worse that yours or mine. No one’s past allows you to decide that they
are unworthy of your love. I have failed
at this with people who desperately need to see the love of Christ in their
moments of pain.
I know people who have walked away from faith because
keeping the faith meant they had to forgive someone they did not wish to
forgive. It meant they had to love a
person they thought unworthy of their demonstrated love. This is so backwards. We need to live out the truth that everyone
deserves condemnation and is still worthy of love. Every soul matters to the Father. He is unwilling that any should perish.
There is no substitute for living and applying actual love
to every individual in every circumstance in every moment. It is what the Father does for us with every
grain of sand that falls through the glass.
It is his constant loving consideration of us that allows us to
exist.
I have such a long way to go but that does not mean that I
am wrong about this. It means that we
can walk together toward loving the Father more deeply. It means that we can meddle in each other’s
lives deeply by showing love no matter what the cost. We can follow Christ more closely by loving
those he loves. I begin to think of it
this way: If I am unwilling to live out
actual intense love to anyone for whom Christ died then I am disagreeing with God. I am, therefore, wrong. No matter what protestation I can conjure,
justification I can muster, or situation I can relate, Jesus loves that person
in that moment. My argument against
loving in themoment is, therefore, invalid.
Failing to love others intensely and sacrificially is at the core of
every wrong we commit.
So, who is it Dear Reader that you need to love more
obviously, intentionally, and flagrantly?
What do you need to do to show others that you really do love them? As I said at the beginning of this month, my
focus is to transform every interaction into an opportunity to show my love and
more importantly the love of Christ to everyone. Loving others is a battle of moments from
which we may never declare a ceasefire. What
are you going to do about it?
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.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Support Page on
Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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