Loving others; introspection to introgression.

I pulled the following writings from my cousin's phenomenal blog, although she is not the original author, she found them worthy of displaying on her site. I also found them worthy of being pondered, written about, and passed along as necessary life lessons which, I think, we should all always consider ourselves in need of. :)

One of my greatest lessons learned:
Know that everyone has a story.
If you disagree with someone or find them hurtful or offensive or they trigger any major feeling inside you...be purposeful in asking.
Do not merely listen to their story.
Hear it.
Let it change you.
This has radically altered my life. It has brought much complication and pain, much joy and happiness. It has forced me to trade understanding for judgment and kindness for anger.
Please get very good at it so you can remind me, when I forget.

-written by Christine on her blog here.

I’ve learned that I have no idea who my teachers are. When I am silently ruminating over how I think I know more than some person who is irritating me, I am more likely shutting down the voice of a teacher that I need to learn something from.

I’ve learned that kindness is not something I merely indulge myself in when everything is going my way, but is a discipline I need to practice – especially when I feel tired, irritated, or feel like I have a justifiable complaint against someone. Being mean is being lazy.

-Excerpted from this blog.


I think that last line of the second author's thoughts sums up what importance lies in where our priorities will be. As we live on earth with the rest of the other lost and broken pieces of humanity we call fellow human beings, our soul's possible connection to anything rests on whether or not we can give and take love; our lives often rest on whether or not our souls can connect. Therefore, the valuable gestures of reaching out to other people is not just something that makes us or the other person feel good for just a few moments, or mere hours, it's something that has the potential to alter the existence of those two people for eternity.

As a Christ-follower, my faith is based on the fundamental and eternal truth that Christ's love for me, and my belief that he is all I need, has made my eternity reach it's fullest potential, and that his love within me is what gives me the ability to reach that potential, and to help coast others to the same kind of potential.

Paul paints a resplendent description of our humanness being touched by the power of God in 2 Corinthians 4. For me this passage arranges an immovable passion and awareness in my heart for bearing the weight of life with others, and for others, whenever I can. In verse 7 he states that while we now have God's light shining in our hearts, we are still just like fragile clay jars trying to contain a great treasure. Meaning that while we are now holding something bigger than ourselves, it does not happen by our own power, and it is not our power which causes that powerful light to remain with us. Paul goes on to talk about what our fragile human spirits will most likely need to endure as we bear the weight of life, about how and why we endure through it all, and he encourages us in his closing statements regarding the eternity we await.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.
We are perplexed but not driven to despair. (v.8)

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.
We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.(v.9)

But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke."(v.11, referring to Psalm 116:10)

...And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. (v. 15)

For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we can see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (v.17&18)

 Another (more famous) passage Paul wrote also comes to mind, one verse in particular:

If I gave everything I had to the poor and sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
    1 Corinthians 13:3

*

Think about that.


If God sent Jesus, and Jesus didn't love us even in his death, what would he have gained? What would have been accomplished? The story of the cross loses some of it's miracle and power when we erase love from Christ's heart as he is pierced and abused for our sake that day. The words of God in scripture would be so much less emotionally gravitating if we took out every mention of his love for us. I would find it so much harder to feel passionate about a God who is only just, only wrath, only judgement, etc. His love is what holds our existence together; his love is what offers an alternative option, now and forever. His love is what instills our desires to love him back, to worship him, to devote our time and thoughts to him, to land on our knees as prayerful tears touch our faces; his love is what creates love within us.

As I go over these thoughts, as I try to imagine every area of my life in which I can apply Christ's love, and I am overwhelmed with the unending range I have left to cover; if I start this second, applying these lessons to my life, and never fail again for as long as I live, it will still not be enough. Not even close.

 But if all I do is think about it, it will be the same as not caring at all. So I have no other option but to move forward with this inner meandering of mine and turn it into outward action that the world cannot ignore. :)



*The Mumford & Sons song, "Awake My Soul" (which you can find on my playlist), has the perfect lyrics to correlate with this particular topic of rumination:

In these bodies we will live; In these bodies we will die.
Where you invest your love, you invest your life.