If you cut me would you feel it? Would it bleed deep or would you be standing there numb -JULY 5th

If you cut me would you feel it? Would it bleed deep or would you be standing there numb

So the question I have to ask is this:

Do I take the time to see people; like to really see them or do I act like they are invisible or don’t matter? In their brokenness with all of their faults, when it is not easy and things are really messy. Like I am talking about when they are not convenient and are a burden pain in the butt. Or what about when I prefer myself, my wants, my ambitions, my goals, my pride and to get to the point of it all, my root of selfishness over loving people. Yes, shame on me.

How often and how easy can it be to do this though, to communicate even with the people who are closest to us that we don’t value them or care about the things they care about? Here is what our messed up society says is acceptable, look out for #1 and that’s it. So this leads me to my next thought, where is our compassion for the lost if at times we struggle to extend ourselves to those nearest to us?

Jesus was moved with compassion. I will repeat that for some, I said MOVED! That means he got up and physically did something about it. Makes me think of so many of the accounts of His life where He was moved with compassion for people and responded to the mess that was their lives. Challenges my faith, and even my way of thinking. It means I have to stop and actually ask myself how often I am moved with compassion where it involves a reaction of more than feeling bad for someone in my heart. This is where I need to examine the motives of my heart. This is where I need to repent not only for my hard heart but to ask God to forgive a generation full of selfishness.

If we can’t prefer the people closest in our lives and show them compassion, how then will we be capable of reaching the people that we may even consider inconvenient and have an intolerance for? I don’t think it works this way at all. It’s dysfunctional, and brings a level of disorder and God is not a God of disorder.    

I think learning to love the people that we have in our lives (whether we actually like who they may be) is preschool grounds for being allowed and trusted with loving the rest of Gods people, the so called messy ones.

In our performance, perfectionism driven Christianity we can remotely mute that part about salvation. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….I am therefore sure it says all of us are in need of His salvation and to that there is no acceptation. Let us not fall prey into a perfectionism driven mentality and forget that we are all sinners needing sanctification. I don’t have to like or not like someone to realize that they need God’s grace just as badly as I do.

Just think for a moment about Jesus and the sorts of people that He encountered, like seriously what if He had of been like hey you bum get up and get a job. I am just as guilty for thinking like this at times when instead the word of God instructs us to LOVE people and be moved with compassion for their lives. For the record I am not saying hey it is ok not to contribute to society. What I am stating is that Love in a biblical sense doesn’t look like what we think people should deserve or receive, but that’s what is so beautiful about it.

I also wasn’t born yesterday so what about instead of trying to give society a hand out what about a hand up to pick up their mats and walk. I was thinking and talking about this recently with a good friend. The concept of speaking and giving someone what they need instead of wanting the easy way out. This normally involves less risk on our behalf, costs us little or nothing, and doesn’t work to create long term change in the cycle of things. Let me leave you with this thought, let God challenge your thinking and not be so quick to judge and think about your opinion of someone. Try simply to stop, ask God what do you think about this person, how does He see them and what do they need? And don’t forget to show the people closer to you that you value them, if we can’t be trusted with this, how can God trust us with the unsaved?