God sets the standard to love one another

I want to share a very short story on loving one another.

The homeless man

I once saw a homeless man sleeping in a parking lot on the ground. He had a shopping cart full of different things. He had a neon pink sign on the cart with the words “headed to key west” and something about needing a “fur baby” written in black marker. In the shopping cart, two things stood out. A very large and very empty bottle of Liquor, and a full gallon of water.

Some people look at this and think “he did it to himself”, “if he wanted to he could change”, or “this is why I don’t give money to homeless people, they’re just going to use it for a vice”. Child of God, that is not our place. Our place is to love one another; to look beyond the current circumstance to a lost soul in need of hope (key west) and companionship/fellowship (the fur baby).

The standard was set

“We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”

1 John 4:19-21 KJV

It could be you or me on the ground of that parking lot today, but by GOD’S GRACE and his grace ALONE you are reading this instead. Nothing we could ever do would be enough to “earn” the life we have the privilege to live. God sets the standard on what it really means to love one another.

We hear stories of God’s unconditional love, but do not forget that The Lord once looked upon us, saw beyond the mess we had put ourselves in, saw beyond our sin, and chose to love us anyway. Now that’s a story of christian love in action!

Reflect

I want you to be honest with yourself today and answer these questions:

Where would your life be if the Lord had not stepped in and showed you his love?

Would you even be alive?

What do you take for granted daily that you could thank God for? a bed? clean water? a warm shower?

Have you been loving other the way we are called to?

Put on your Jesus lenses and love one another

I want to challenge you to love an unlikely neighbor today who may need to hear of the unconditional love of Jesus. Ask God to put a Christ-like lens over your eyes to look beyond their sin to their hurting soul. Jesus loved you in your mess, show others the love that has been shown to you by loving them in theirs.