31 Days with Mama A: Loving on others. (Day 16)
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| Lauren Thorn Photography And this: |
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| Lauren Thorn Photography I'm officially done from the sweetness. |
I love my little girls and I think they are the
bee's knees.
I am fiercely proud of them and they make me so
happy.
But they aren't perfect.
They have their less than stellar moments and
they sometimes make bad decisions.
They are difficult. They are easy going.
They are generous. They are greedy.
They care about others. They care about
themselves.
They want their piece of the pie
just like everyone else.
We all act like that, don't we?
And while I recognize these things in my girls, my feathers are going to get ruffled if you say something negative about them. Even if you're right.
Because nobody messes with Mama A's babies.
 Now before I say much more, I need you to know something (especially if you are new around here): I tend to stay away from political and/or hot topic issues on this space. I don't want people who don't know me (or my heart) to take what I have to say and rant and rave because they have missed my point completely. Let me start by saying: I believe that the most effective way to love on people is to do exactly that: love on them. Which means you're going to have to look past all of their sins and choices and lifestyles and situations and get down to the nitty gritty parts of them and really, actually love them. Even when you don't want to. Even when you feel uncomfortable. Especially when it feels uncomfortable. It means you are going to have to stop lumping all people from a certain religion, race, nationality, group, or sexual lifestyle into the same category. How many Christians cringe when the public calls us "hypocrites"? I have a feeling it hurts just the same when we use certain derogatory terms to describe certain groups of people. And I also wonder if our Father gets His feathers ruffled when we speak poorly of His children, too. Loving on people is not assuming the worst of them because of where they are from, how they live, or what they choose to do with their lives. Loving on people is not blasting a certain out group, belief, or lifestyle on a public format or social media. Loving on others is not allowing their reputations (real or assumed) to govern how much we love them. Loving on others is not socially rejecting or refusing to associate with any group of people. The last time I checked, Jesus hung on that cross for all of us. Including all of those people we refuse to love for whatever reason. 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 NASB
Need more?
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly,
since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is
from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does
not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was
made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we
might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John
4:7-10 ESV
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo
one another in showing honor. Romans 12:10 ESV
And before we start spouting phrases like "love the sinner, hate the sin" we need to make sure that we are actually loving the sinner. We are really, really good at hating the sin, but sometimes we really, really stink when it comes to loving the sinner. You know, the sinners just like us.
Love and smooches,
Mama A.
xoxxo
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. . . to be continued. . .
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