Verse of the Day:
Luke 6:35
35But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.
All right, it’s my turn now. Choir camp was good (It was not nerdy). And sorry that there were no blogs this weekend, we had some technical difficulties (I always seem to attract viruses to computers…) We decided we will not be blogging on the weekends though, we are just tooooo busy!
Let’s start at the beginning of the verse. I know what you’re thinking – love your enemies? Why would you love the people that don’t like you at all? This is my interpretation about that line: I think God does not want us to conform to be people that we are not JUST so someone will like us. I can think of many times where I have changed habits or listened to a certain type of music just to feel accepted. When in reality, who was I really trying to impress? I think God wants us to love our enemies and accept the fact that He made us a certain way, and that we do not need to change for someone to like us.
Now, expecting nothing in return for doing good things and lending? I’m going to be honest, I have trouble with this. When I do nice things, I really do expect people to do something nice back. But as I am getting older, I am realizing it is not the case. We need to put others first, try to take some stress off of them. This reminds me of something I heard at a camp – it’s the quote “I am third”. It means that God is first, others are second, and THEN you should worry about yourselves. If you’re like me, this concept can be really hard for you, but it really does feel good to do those silent acts of kindness without recognition. Give it a try J
The Simple Truth: God wants us to love the people that don’t necessarily accept us, and accept the fact that we are made for HIM. He tells us straight up that our reward will be great for doing this and for doing nice things for others without recognition.
Reflect: Do I try to become someone else to impress others? How often do I put others before myself?
Apply: Do something nice for someone, expecting NOTHING in return. Clean the kitchen just for the heck of it. Buy someone’s burger at McDonald’s. Remember that you are THIRD.
Pray:
Lord, help me to accept the fact that not everyone is going to like me for who You made me to be. Help me to love those people anyway. Help me to put myself last behind You and those around me and to do acts of kindness expecting nothing back.
Let your light shine.
-Lo
looooove it.
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