Deep down we know that's never going to happen. In an election year like this one, we don''t even have to dig down for that truth. It's as obvious as sand on the sea. We want others to treat us with respect and care and like they would prefer to be treated, while we blame them for treating us wrong and therefore justifying our retaliation. We hate our enemies and regard them as though they have no value. We despise those we disagree with. And we show no mercy to those who we view as a threat to our beliefs and way of life. That is the truth of humanity. You can see it play out in preschools. Take my toy, and I'll make you sorry.
Religion might help on the surface. A few people might even be able to keep their reactions in check through extreme circumstances. But the number is far exceeded by the ever growing fruit of hate and hurt that is choking everything else. Sowing love is an impossible human reaction to the world around us. It goes against what we see as our nature. To love in the face of and in response to hate takes the kind of personal realignment that Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane before going to the cross, where He asked if there were any other way, then said no matter what He would do the will of the Father first and then got up and carried out the painful road to death.
Make no mistake sowing love where there is hate is not filling your life with rainbows and roses. It more than likely will increase both rain and thorns instead. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't feel right. And it hurts. When we are hated, especially when we are hated for doing good, it feels agonizingly like we are being crucified. We have to accept the hatred and hurt and choose to love in return, and we can't do that. It's not in us, at least not in our human nature. But it is the very nature of the new spirit within us that is born of God. It is God's nature to love those who hate Him, to love to the point of dying in their place.
To sow is to make a conscious choice. It is to place purposefully the seeds of love where they need to be, We are not going to outgrow or choke out hate by sowing love, not on this planet and not on this side of eternity. Jesus said the world would hate those who followed Him and things are going to get so much worse that if He doesn't return we're going to destroy human life once and for all. We know that too. That's why post Apocalypse fiction is so popular. No, we'll never beat hate on a grand scale. We can't even beat it within ourselves without the grace of God giving us the power. But we can, by grace, be more like Jesus and sow love where there is hate. Some of those seeds will grow and change the eternal for the heart that receives it. Every one of us who has a relationship with God has it because someone sowed the love of God in our heart as they went about being an instrument of God's peace.
Being the truth and light of Christ to a hurt and dying world is more important on the eternal scale of things than anything, including our rights and way of life, even than our very life. The first response to having God answer our prayer to be used by Him to help others find peace with Him is to learn to love as Jesus did. We need to step outside the pattern. Before we can do anything else, before we can sow truth that will grow, we must love. We love God because He first loved us. If the enemies of God are ever to become our brothers and sisters, then we must, by grace, swallow our need to retaliate and return hate for hate.
Lord, today let us be an instrument of Your peace by loving like You loved, in the face of hate, when it costs and when it isn't easy. Let us remember that Your love must go through Your people to find the hearts of the broken, captive enemies that You want to reconcile to You. We may not change the world, but we will change the eternity of those who we love enough to die for. Help us to put to death our need to defend and protect self, and help us to carry our cross to the hill where You may be glorified and lifted up in our way of life. Let our ability to love the unlovable show Your transformative power, Your love and Your way of life for Your glory. Let us not pray this prayer lightly, and let us not speak love while our actions and reactions continue hate and thereby push people further from You. Let our desire to love someone as You love, in the hopes of them finding reconciliation with You, be more important than any agenda or label or group. Amen
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments and or listens to the messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions to more people by sharing the Moments and messages that you read or listen to? Hitting the share button instead of or in addition to the like button will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.
If you would like to have notifications of new Unshackled Moments and messages sent to you via email, send an email to dalynwoodard@mail.com requesting to be added to the list. You can also follow Dalyn Woodard (@Dalynsmsings) on Twitter or Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment