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Greetings to all my brothers and sisters
in Christ!
I am convinced that God has
one quirky sense of humor. Just look at the different kinds
of people He created! We've got people who squeak when they
walk, who are fascinated by protein molecules and who enjoy
eating parts of animals I would rather not look at. Some people
like computers, others like llamas. One may worship God by dancing
around the house to their iPod, while another kneels quietly
on his living room carpet with his head covered. And that's
just my family and friends--WEIRDOS! Sometimes I just don't
understand them, but I love them. And so it should be with the
rest of the world.
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| Nerdy,
disgusting, spacey, loud, disorganized, dreamy, rigid,
weird wonderful people! No matter what we think of other
people's quirks and oddities, those are the things that
make them... well, themselves. And God loves them passionately.
Just as much as He loves you and your weirdness. Isn't
that amazing? |
My
little children, let us not love in word or in tongue,
but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:18 |
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Still, there are
always going to be people out there that rub us the wrong way.
So I ask myself: if God loves them just as they are, why don't
I? This is an especially important question, because God commands
us to love our brothers, sisters, strangers and even our enemies.
John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give you, that you
love one another; as I haved loved you, that also love one another.”
He loves us a lot. It's easy to love our friends, “But
if you love those who love you, what credit to you? For even
sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32) So here
is a question: how can we love
someone that we don't even like? C.S. Lewis answers
this question in his book, Mere Christianity (I encourage
you to read it!) His answer also lines with 1 John 3:18. “The
rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering
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you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon
as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When
you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently
come to love him... The worldly man treats certain people
kindly because he 'likes' them: the Christian, trying
to treat everyone kindly, finds himself liking more
and more people as he goes on - including people he
could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.”
So what do we do when we don't feel like we love them?
“Act as if you did”
Jesus said, “By
this all will know that you are my disciples, if have
love for one another”
(John
13:35)
Sweet and strong Ambassadors! Much Love,
Hannah
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