August 1, 2012

• {what i want my kids to know}

  how many times have i nodded my head emphatically along side the words,
  “well, we need to just LOVE everyone!”
  
  because it’s true. we do need to just LOVE everyone. i honestly believe that.

  but. in recent light of arguments swirling, and the tough issues surrounding us in society,
  i’ve realized perhaps my head nodding hasn’t been entirely from conviction..
  rather, maybe a subtle masking of passiveness on my part?

  i’d like to think i love everyone…
  no matter backgrounds. lifestyle choices. criminal records. beliefs.
  but that’s easy to say from a comfortable distance away~
  when was the last time i was truly confronted with those different than me?
  in an every day, personal space kind of way?
  that’s when i see what kind of love i really have.

  i can spew opinions all day on facebook. talk about the horrors in the world..
  yes. nodding my head right off, and yet, not necessarily, love.

  love is not a noun. a thing, an object.
  it’s a verb. moving. alive. active!

  and i ask myself if what i’ve called “love,” isn’t merely a way of disconnecting.
  we say, “live and let live.” and it sounds well and good, but is that so we don’t have to get too close?
  too involved? too out of our comfort zones?

  so. we stay on the sidelines and shout, ‘love you’s,’ to those we never even truly take the time to see the faces of.

  but beyond the superficial fluff of meaningless words.
  what really cuts me to the core, is not so much my lack of love..
  but the lack of feeling anything in particular at all.

  and i wonder. is this not a greater sin than not loving? not really even caring.
  to not be able to see past the needs in my own life, to a world emerged in brokenness?
  to be so caught up in my own little sufferings, that i don’t even notice the pained looks of those around me?

  i’ve been thinking so much about this lately. churning it round..
  realizing that the answer can’t be, “simply love.”
  because there is nothing in me that can love. not like that. not selfless and without expectation.
  even those i like and hold most precious. let alone, some perfect stranger i’ve never even met.

  no. the real answer is God Himself!
  He is the only one that can change hearts.

  and that’s what i need.
  not more conjuring up some type of love. but a changed heart.
  a tenderness to what hurts His.

  to see those with different sins than mine with understanding, not judgement.
  to be able to view the paths others are walking with compassion, not disdain.
  to realize, it doesn’t take trying on someone else’s shoes to identify with their pain.
  to offer kindness from a place of humility… genuine heart humility. 
  not the false kind that leaves others feeling like a “project,” not a person with real feelings.

  to be able to love because it’s a love God has put there, through a changed heart.
  and not simply because acting like we love is the cool, vogue thing to do as a christian these days.

  i have often feared what kind of world we’re leaving our kids.
  when they are mom’s and dad’s, what will they be facing?
  and it’s because of my kids…
  not truett cathy or the mayor of boston or the gay’s fighting for their rights 
  that stirs a passion inside me to shake off my passivity and get serious with what i believe.

  as their young eyes lock hard with mine, questioning, looking for straight answers..
  i feel called to an accountability like never before to get off the sidelines and into the game!
  to stop standing a safe distance away, afraid of getting a bit of dirt on me, from yes, the mess that is our world.

  and i realize this is sacred ground we’re treading.
  this pursuing of change and realness and truth.
  my heart races fast at just the thought.

  but, i want my kids to know, as we join hands, and navigate the way together..
  there is something so much more sure than simply what mom and dad have to say.
  something much more solid. unchanging. reliable.

  and when answers are needed for the tough questions.
  and a changed of heart in order to genuinely love.
  when you’re trying to combat the lies flooding in all around…
  feeling tossed. overwhelmed.

  there is an anchor for our souls.
  and that anchor is the Word of God.

  it is there the pendulum of grace and discernment stands perfectly balanced.
  there, where you recognize your own sin is as blinding as the other guy’s.
  and there, where you find the most perfect example of all on not just what is love, but how.

  in a culture where most christians take their world view from saturday night live -
  we must be willing to hold on to what’s not always popular to hold on to!
  
  we might have to get over the whole cool christian thing and embrace some old fashion Bible truths that seem to be lost ~
  where sin causes us to blush – not joke about.
  where hell is scary – not just a swear word.
  where people know we’re different not because we say we are – but because we live like we are.

  because we BELIEVE we’re supposed to be!

  to not just let loving others apply to the homosexuals and liberal left wingers.
  but to make it even more real than that and start in our own churches -
  with our christian brothers and sisters.
  imagine that?
  people who’ve not spoken in years! that one you can’t forgive.

  we need to start within our own homes.

  we need a few more christians willing to stop climbing on every political and religious soap box available out there,
  and choose to simply stand one place. on the Word of God! 

  kate. ben. emma and little reese..
  i pray you will be those kind of christians.

  now. who wants to go to chick-fil-a for dinner?
  

  • 10:51 am
  • 32 Comments