My Goal

I've been considering my friends lately. What is it that draws me to certain people? What is it that steers me away from some people, and is that ok? I know I can't be friends with everyone, but I also don't want to allow hang-ups to cause me to shut the door on someone. Where do boundaries come in? Some people don't understand boundaries...so where is the balance? What does it mean to "Love your neighbor?" and who is my neighbor?

The people who I would consider my close friends are definitely neighbors. They love me, I can trust them...it's easy. Then there is those people who are not trust worthy, and who I consider to be "mean or other negative adjectives". What about them? Are they my neighbor? What does it mean to love them?

According to one of my hero's, Dan Mohler, the definition of loving people means to treat that person according to their value to God. If I am able to see a difficult, mean, angry, depressed, annoying, hassle of a person according to their value to Jesus, I can love them. To Him, they were worth His blood. To Him, they are worth His blood still. Whether I think they are or not, just boils down to how arrogant I want to be about comparing my worth and theirs to our same creator.

We live in a society where the way we treat others depends on the way they treat us. People have to earn our love. When did I ever earn the love of God? There have been many times in my life where I may have given you an example of how I earned it, but I never did. He gave it to me for free. In fact, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around how He loves us. How is it that He doesn't love me more than a murderer? He doesn't even love me more than a rapist, or a pedophile. Why? How can that be? His love for me isn't based on my performance, it's based on my value to Him.

We were so valuable, He died for us...ALL! I still have to remind myself some days, that my performance is meaningless in terms of auditioning for more love. I have all His love, I cannot lose it. He loves me every moment of every day, even in the midst of my "sinning". He just can't get enough of me. He is chasing me with goodness and mercy every day. He does not see bad in me, He only sees himself in me. I am right. I am perfect because He lives in me and He is right and He is perfect. His righteousness far out weighs my deficiencies. How do I even consider such deficiencies in the light of such perfection, such bliss, such LIGHT? How can I even look at myself when He is so big, so perfect, so beautiful. It's His perfect Love that tangles me up every day I consider it. My eyes are not on me, they are on Him.


If I can't love someone, it's because I have yet to feel the love of God in every corner of me. So, when I have a difficult time loving someone, it acts as a big flashing sign that I'm in need of His love. It's not my love I'm giving anyway...it's His. It needs to come from an overflow so I don't burn out trying my best to love someone on my own strength. That would suck for them anyways because then I would expect something in return...some kind of pay back or reward.

"They will know we are Christians by our Love." This is the only way someone ought to know I'm a Christian. If they find out a different way, that's fine I guess.... My goal though, my single goal is to waste my life learning how to love like He does! I don't want to learn it when I get to heaven, what's the point then. How does that help anyone?

This is my time on earth. Gratefulness and thanksgiving are my two single weapons to keep me from selfishness and Love is my gift that I can freely give. If my eyes are on me, I notice how people treat me. If my eyes are on Him, I can actually love in a way that resembles how He loves so closely, you wouldn't know the difference. My goal!