I’ve heard it, and maybe you’ve heard it too. “ Well….they’ve probably put themselves in that situation” "Their probably on drugs” “They need to go get a job, like the rest of us” We’ve all heard it said about the homeless, the addict, the Wayward. We’ve heard these comments made. Maybe we’ve even made the ourselves. We make excuses for our remarks, we justify our words, we act like we have a right to say what we’ve said and we are undeniably unapologetic for them. I mean… “I am not responsible for the choices made by another!” Right. You’re absolutely not. But you know what you are responsible for? You are responsible for the love of Jesus Christ Living and dwelling inside of you. You are responsible for the kind of light you are shining to the homeless, the addict and the wayward. You are responsible for the way you utilize the incredible sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for you, for me, for the homeless, the addict and the wayward. I’ve heard it, and maybe you’ve heard it too… “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go to heaven one day, stand before the Lord and have to answer why I didn’t take the opportunity to at least smile at the man on the corner… To reach out to the aching heart of the addict… to show the truth of the undeniable love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to the wayward. I don’t want to explain why I walked passed, why I looked down, or why I turned away. If you and I are to be the very image of Christ, than what are our next moments of life going to look like? If we are to reflect the likeness of who he is, what do our next steps look like? What do our next words sound like? I have heard it, and maybe you’ve heard it too… “They will know we are Christians by our love.” As followers of Jesus Christ, we proclaim the most incredible message in all the world. Christ gave his life up without any limits. He didn’t put a restriction on where you had to live, on what kind of job you had to have or even if you had a job, he didn’t limit his love to the people who make all the right decisions. And you know what? We can’t either! This life is too short, and there is too much at stake for us not to be undeniably and unquestionably living in the absolute and complete freedom given to us. I don’t know about you, but I want to live a life of limitless love. A life totally VOID of judgment and accusation. A life that is so sold out for Jesus, a life where it doesn’t matter what anybody else says or does, I am going to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It doesn’t mean anything if it’s just spoken between You and me. We have to be out there! We have got to give this life all we’ve got! The point is not whether or not someone has “put themselves in their situation” It’s not if “they are on drugs” or if “they need to get a job”. How can we love like Jesus if that is the way we are thinking and speaking? The point is love, and the fact that without it, we would all, each and every one of us, be headed towards a dark and terrible place. But because of love, all of us broken people, have a chance to be whole and to give hope and freedom to a lost, broken and dying world. |
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