Last week a friend of mine encouraged me to watch a particular movie. No, it wasn’t you encouraging me to watch “V for Vendetta”. It was my friend Will who encouraged me to watch “the Notebook”. I figure mostly girls would have seen it. After all, where there is no violence or sports involved in a movie, rarely will a man watch it…except, of course, if his girlfriend wants him too.
Anyways, he encouraged me to watch it so, on Wednesday, Anne and I rented it. Might I say, I was impressed. I liked it. I’m not ashamed to admit it.
For anyone who doesn’t know what it is, I’m going to show a clip, but I need to give some background info before I do.
Background:
- In the movie an older man is reading a love story to an older woman about Noah and Allie – no Brokeback Mountain here
- It is about a wealthy girl and a country boy who fight the odds and end up sharing a love unmatched anywhere else.
- As the man is reading this love story, it become clear that Allie, the older woman, has Alzheimer’s. However, the man is still unknown, but it is clear he is the husband.
- At one point in the movie, Allie and the man’s grown kids come and visit. Allie doesn’t recognize them. After Allie leaves, the grown children try to convince the man that he should come home – that mom doesn’t remember any of them anymore. The husband responds by saying, “That’s my sweetheart in there. I’m not leaving her. This is my home now. Your mother is my home.”
- He continues to stay by her and read this love story. It then becomes clear that the man is Noah when Allie all of a sudden remembers the story and recognizes the man as Noah. She only remembers him for a few minutes, but it is cherished by the both of them.
- Finally, we reach to the end of the movie where they reunite and eventually die together.
We are surrounded every day by faithfulness. However, most of the time it involves people being unfaithful – Look at Brad Pitt with Angelina Jolie or Jessica Simpson with the Maroon 5 singer.
However, this man was faithful everyday to come, visit his wife, in hopes that she would remember the love they shared. Again, my background doesn’t do justice to the love they shared or the heartbreak involved with having a loved one with Alzheimer’s. But he was faithful because of his love for her – her love for him.
This man represents the kind of faithfulness Christ demonstrates to us. He is there, sitting right next to us every day, sharing a love story in hopes that we will remember that kind of love we can have. Most of the time we don’t remember – we forget and go our own way – but He is still there sitting next to us.
What am I talking about when I say that God is faithful? What does that mean and is there any proof to His undying faithfulness to us?
Numbers 23:19 - "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"
- God is not like us! He’s not going to turn His back on us for some better looking model.
- He is there for us and his promises always ring true. Every time he makes a promise, he backs it up. He comes through. He is the clutchest of clutch hitters.
For example:
- The promise to Abraham that he will have a son
- The promise to Noah that he will never again flood the earth
So, God is faithful, but how do we benefit from that?
Lamentations 3:22-23 - "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (ESV)
- Not only is He faithful – standing by us always, it says that his LOVE never ceases! His mercies never come to an end – that they are new every morning
- It’s like every morning we have a clean slate! No matter what happened the day before, God is there ready to share more love and more mercies on us the very next day!
In the Bible it points out many times – but I’m only going to pull out a few instances in which God tells us his promises.
Matthew 7:7-8 - “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
- Simple – if we ask, we will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. All this in reference to turning to God. He is there wanting to help. We have to take the initiative to ask, seek, and knock
Romans 8:39 - “Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- NOTHING will ever be able to separate us from the love of God! Who else can make a promise like that?
These are just a few of God’s promises that he is faithful to fulfill. There are many more in the Bible!
Challenge
So, the question now is – what will you do with God’s faithfulness?
Will you look at it and say, “those are nice promises – he seems like a pretty faithful guy.”, but not do anything with it. Or will you latch on to his faithfulness, latch on to those promises and say, “I need to stay close to this guy.”
Remember just what we talked about – how God’s promises are there for us and he provided. It says this in Psalm – Psalm 22:4-5 – “Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. You heard their cries for help and saved them. They put their trust in you and were never disappointed.”
They were never disappointed! Hey, life happens - people consistently let you down, turn their backs on you – remember, unfaithfulness is more the norm these days. But, you have God, who is sitting there, right next to you, ready to continue a love story that doesn’t have to end.
It is up to you! You have got to make a decision to tap into it or not. What will you do? Think of 1 thing you can do to tap into God’s faithfulness.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
Relying on God's resources (not the worlds)
I want you to think for a minute of things that we can physically put into our body that can bring us harm?
Some things that I just randomly thought of were
Diet Coke has nutrasweet – it has been known to cause cancer
Sugar – too much of it can cause diabetes and it ruins teeth
Cigarettes – cause various forms of cancer
Alcohol – ruins your liver
All these things bring in harm to our bodies – especially when we have too much of it. Those are easy targets as to things that we inject in our bodies that can cause harm. What else, other than things that we physically “inject” into our lives that can bring us harm?
Well, how about these – when you hear a song on the radio - can that cause harm to you? Why or why not? What about when you watch your favorite Family Guy or OC episode. Can that cause harm to you? Why or why not?
Listen, I’m not picking on these shows, but I watched 90210 (the 1st OC) and I would argue yes, they do bring harm to you because of the messages they send you about how life should be lived and what you should do. They are small subtle messages involving pre-marital sex, dating, friendships, drinking, cigarette use, family life. You get a small dose here and another small dose there, you begin to believe that this lifestyle is right.
The point I’m trying to get across now is that the things we inject into our lives/our bodies shape who we are and what we do.
Over the next few weeks we are going to look at what God has to offer you compared to the world and how relying on His resources helps us have a better, more complete life.
The 1st resource we are going to look at is how to rely on God’s Spirit and how He alone can help you. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about this.
1 Corinthians 3:16 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
2 things here:
1. We are God’s Temple
What does that mean?
Think of all the temples you know of. How do they look? Are they clean or dirty? Are they elegant or trashy?
All the temples ever create are these beautiful masterpieces built with the best materials, covered in marble and gold. Why are they created that way? It is to show honor and glory to God – it is a sacred institution and God deserves the best.
Well, in the same way, you are God’s temple – you are God’s sacred institution. You were perfectly created as you are and you need to treat yourself that way. By that I mean that you need to be careful what you put into your body as it can either give you life or cause harm to you. Because….
2. God’s spirit lives in you
Just like every temple dedicated to God, God’s spirit lives in us. He is there waiting to make an impact in our lives.
The question is…HOW DO YOU USE GOD’S SPIRIT and start living a better, more complete life?
We need to inject ourselves with some life giving resources
* Prayer - John 15:7 - "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
* Studying God’s word - Joshua 1:8 - "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
* Right Friendships. We surrounding ourselves with the right friends to sharpen us and push us towards Christ will only benefit us down the road. Proverbs 27:17 – “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend”
* Being Obedient to God’s plan Most of us know in our heart of hearts the right path to take. We just have to look beyond ourselves and make those right decisions and go down the right path. It takes obedience to God’s plan, knowing that He has the right way, not us.
Challenge
By putting these things in our body, God’s spirit will dwell in us and will help us through life. We will be putting the right things in our life to help us instead of all the destructive things we talked about earlier.
So, what are you putting in your life?
What part of God can you put into your life this week?
An activity for you to do - Write on a note card what life giving resource you can inject in your life as a reminder for the week so you can start building into a healthy lifestyle that brings honor to God’s temple
It is a difference between life and death. What you should have rather than what you are having now. Don’t get me wrong, your life may be “good” right now. But it can always be better. Better begins with tapping into the life giving resources of Christ.
Some things that I just randomly thought of were
Diet Coke has nutrasweet – it has been known to cause cancer
Sugar – too much of it can cause diabetes and it ruins teeth
Cigarettes – cause various forms of cancer
Alcohol – ruins your liver
All these things bring in harm to our bodies – especially when we have too much of it. Those are easy targets as to things that we inject in our bodies that can cause harm. What else, other than things that we physically “inject” into our lives that can bring us harm?
Well, how about these – when you hear a song on the radio - can that cause harm to you? Why or why not? What about when you watch your favorite Family Guy or OC episode. Can that cause harm to you? Why or why not?
Listen, I’m not picking on these shows, but I watched 90210 (the 1st OC) and I would argue yes, they do bring harm to you because of the messages they send you about how life should be lived and what you should do. They are small subtle messages involving pre-marital sex, dating, friendships, drinking, cigarette use, family life. You get a small dose here and another small dose there, you begin to believe that this lifestyle is right.
The point I’m trying to get across now is that the things we inject into our lives/our bodies shape who we are and what we do.
Over the next few weeks we are going to look at what God has to offer you compared to the world and how relying on His resources helps us have a better, more complete life.
The 1st resource we are going to look at is how to rely on God’s Spirit and how He alone can help you. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about this.
1 Corinthians 3:16 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
2 things here:
1. We are God’s Temple
What does that mean?
Think of all the temples you know of. How do they look? Are they clean or dirty? Are they elegant or trashy?
All the temples ever create are these beautiful masterpieces built with the best materials, covered in marble and gold. Why are they created that way? It is to show honor and glory to God – it is a sacred institution and God deserves the best.
Well, in the same way, you are God’s temple – you are God’s sacred institution. You were perfectly created as you are and you need to treat yourself that way. By that I mean that you need to be careful what you put into your body as it can either give you life or cause harm to you. Because….
2. God’s spirit lives in you
Just like every temple dedicated to God, God’s spirit lives in us. He is there waiting to make an impact in our lives.
The question is…HOW DO YOU USE GOD’S SPIRIT and start living a better, more complete life?
We need to inject ourselves with some life giving resources
* Prayer - John 15:7 - "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
* Studying God’s word - Joshua 1:8 - "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
* Right Friendships. We surrounding ourselves with the right friends to sharpen us and push us towards Christ will only benefit us down the road. Proverbs 27:17 – “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend”
* Being Obedient to God’s plan Most of us know in our heart of hearts the right path to take. We just have to look beyond ourselves and make those right decisions and go down the right path. It takes obedience to God’s plan, knowing that He has the right way, not us.
Challenge
By putting these things in our body, God’s spirit will dwell in us and will help us through life. We will be putting the right things in our life to help us instead of all the destructive things we talked about earlier.
So, what are you putting in your life?
What part of God can you put into your life this week?
An activity for you to do - Write on a note card what life giving resource you can inject in your life as a reminder for the week so you can start building into a healthy lifestyle that brings honor to God’s temple
It is a difference between life and death. What you should have rather than what you are having now. Don’t get me wrong, your life may be “good” right now. But it can always be better. Better begins with tapping into the life giving resources of Christ.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
More to this Life than Living and Dying
This past week, my wife gave birth to our 3rd daughter, Ella. She is beautiful and everything that I could ever ask for.
Looking at Ella and the new life that she is, you can often get caught up in the moment and think – this is what life is about. She is so precious, innocent, delicate and a blessing from God – nothing else matters. However, eventually you grow up and you start going through the motions of life until you die – right?!? You go to school, hang out with your family and friends, go to college, get married, have kids of your own, help them through life and die. That’s how life is suppose to go, right?
No, there is more to this life than just living and dying – there is more to this life than just going through the motions – and as we wrap up our series on this, we are going to talk about how you can live your life more effective by doing 3 simple things.
The 1st thing you need to do is to make the Right choices
Sure, easy to say – make the right choice. But how do I know what is the right choice?
Read James 1:5 & 2 Timothy 2:22
There are 2 things here:
Ask God for wisdom and hw will give it to you
Pursue what is right & stay away from youthful lusts
· It says to pursue faith, love and peace
· Everything that we do should follow this
To make the right choices you have got to pursue faith, love, and peace. It is hard to stay away from youthful lusts – they all seem fun and “youthful”, but they lead to destruction.
The last thing in mentions in the 2 Timothy scripture is to enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. This leads perfectly into the 2nd
In order to live your life more effectively, you need to surround yourself with the Right friends
Read Proverbs 13:20
Who are wise people? People who make right choices
What are right choices? People who choose faith, love and peace
What friends are you surrounding yourself with?
It is as simple as that folks. Are your friends pursuing the faith, love and peace that is found in Christ alone?
We have got to be surrounding ourselves with people who are following Christ.
Let me just add – there are “Christian” people who have no intention on following and pursuing Christ. Make sure your friends are those who pursue Christ; who pursue faith, love and peace. You will be better off because of it.
Lastly, we need to make sure we are following the Right path
How do we know what the right path is?
Romans 12:2 – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” (NLT)
The right path is not copying what the world is doing – it is letting God transform you into a new person!That is what happens when we follow God – we become transformed into a new person!
When you allow God to work in your life – to transform your life – the right path is easy to know because you will be making the right choices and surrounding yourself with the right friends.
To be honest, most of us know now what the right path is. However, it is so hard to follow it because of all the things we “won’t be able to do”. However, don’t look at it through those lenses. Look at it as all that you will be able to gain. All the peace and certainty you will have in your heart knowing that you are doing what God designed you to do. By that I mean, God has a unique plan for all of your lives. Some it is to be an architect, others a movie star, some a stay at home mom, others an entrepreneur. Just because you are a “Christian” doesn’t mean you are going to be a missionary in Africa – although it might. Whatever God’s plan for you is, you can reach it by following the right path.
Challenge
So, to sum up – I want to challenge you:
What choices are you making?
What friends are you surrounding yourself with?
What path are you headed down?
There is more to this life than where you are now. You can become transformed in God.
So, to make better choices, to surround yourself with better friends and to go down the better path all starts with following Christ.
Where are you with Christ? What’s preventing you from following him? Why wouldn’t you follow him?
Know this - Philippians 4:13 – “For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.”
Nothing is too hard for you as long as you are with Christ! You can do this!
Looking at Ella and the new life that she is, you can often get caught up in the moment and think – this is what life is about. She is so precious, innocent, delicate and a blessing from God – nothing else matters. However, eventually you grow up and you start going through the motions of life until you die – right?!? You go to school, hang out with your family and friends, go to college, get married, have kids of your own, help them through life and die. That’s how life is suppose to go, right?
No, there is more to this life than just living and dying – there is more to this life than just going through the motions – and as we wrap up our series on this, we are going to talk about how you can live your life more effective by doing 3 simple things.
The 1st thing you need to do is to make the Right choices
Sure, easy to say – make the right choice. But how do I know what is the right choice?
Read James 1:5 & 2 Timothy 2:22
There are 2 things here:
Ask God for wisdom and hw will give it to you
Pursue what is right & stay away from youthful lusts
· It says to pursue faith, love and peace
· Everything that we do should follow this
To make the right choices you have got to pursue faith, love, and peace. It is hard to stay away from youthful lusts – they all seem fun and “youthful”, but they lead to destruction.
The last thing in mentions in the 2 Timothy scripture is to enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. This leads perfectly into the 2nd
In order to live your life more effectively, you need to surround yourself with the Right friends
Read Proverbs 13:20
Who are wise people? People who make right choices
What are right choices? People who choose faith, love and peace
What friends are you surrounding yourself with?
It is as simple as that folks. Are your friends pursuing the faith, love and peace that is found in Christ alone?
We have got to be surrounding ourselves with people who are following Christ.
Let me just add – there are “Christian” people who have no intention on following and pursuing Christ. Make sure your friends are those who pursue Christ; who pursue faith, love and peace. You will be better off because of it.
Lastly, we need to make sure we are following the Right path
How do we know what the right path is?
Romans 12:2 – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” (NLT)
The right path is not copying what the world is doing – it is letting God transform you into a new person!That is what happens when we follow God – we become transformed into a new person!
When you allow God to work in your life – to transform your life – the right path is easy to know because you will be making the right choices and surrounding yourself with the right friends.
To be honest, most of us know now what the right path is. However, it is so hard to follow it because of all the things we “won’t be able to do”. However, don’t look at it through those lenses. Look at it as all that you will be able to gain. All the peace and certainty you will have in your heart knowing that you are doing what God designed you to do. By that I mean, God has a unique plan for all of your lives. Some it is to be an architect, others a movie star, some a stay at home mom, others an entrepreneur. Just because you are a “Christian” doesn’t mean you are going to be a missionary in Africa – although it might. Whatever God’s plan for you is, you can reach it by following the right path.
Challenge
So, to sum up – I want to challenge you:
What choices are you making?
What friends are you surrounding yourself with?
What path are you headed down?
There is more to this life than where you are now. You can become transformed in God.
So, to make better choices, to surround yourself with better friends and to go down the better path all starts with following Christ.
Where are you with Christ? What’s preventing you from following him? Why wouldn’t you follow him?
Know this - Philippians 4:13 – “For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.”
Nothing is too hard for you as long as you are with Christ! You can do this!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
More to Life than being Popular?!?
I was looking through my iTunes the other day and ran across a song that I listened to years ago in my college years. As I was listening to this song – reminiscing of all my great college years exploits, I couldn’t help but think about what this song was actually saying. So, I thought it would be good to ask you all to play it and see if you all can identify with this theme and if it is true of you and people in your school.
Download and play “Popular” by Nada Surf
This is the world’s view of how to be popular. Being popular is so important in today’s middle school and high school. There is so much pressure on you all to look a certain way, hang with the right people and be the coolest person you can be. I don’t care what kind of social circles you run in, no one wants to be excluded or not accepted. No one wants to look like the fool amongst all the students. We all desire to be popular in some way.
In looking at being popular, I wonder if there is more to this life than being just popular. I think there is and it is found in how God views us and others.
Often times, when we view ourselves, we are our own worst critic. We see things that others will not and really judge ourselves too harshly. However, despite our perfections or imperfections, it is good to see God’s perspective on this whole matter.
Our view of ourselves
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)
We are all God’s “MASTERPIECE”
God doesn’t make a mistake – we were designed as we are; for a purpose
Romans 8:38-39 – “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. 39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Translation: we are loved!
I don’t care what you look like or what you have done – God created you to be who you are and loves you all the same.
Our view of others
Now that you know how God views each and every one of us individually, what does God say about how we should treat others?
Matthew 22:36-40 - “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Christ was asked what the greatest commandment is. Basically, he was asked, if I could follow 1 thing and 1 thing only, what would it be. His response is two-fold:
1. Love God
2. Love others as you would yourselves
He raps it up by saying that everything hinges on those 2 commandments.
So basically, if you aren’t loving God and aren’t loving people – you are missing the point. Loving others is so important – everything else is based on this! If it is so important, we need to do it and treat others as God would.
Another section in the Bible talks about this as well. I’m not going to post it because it is a long story, but here is the gist of it.
Matthew 25:31-46
Christ returns and divides the group up into 2. One group he says, come with me because, I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick or in prison and you visited me. He said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
To the other group, he told them to depart from him for they never took care of the least of them. For he said, “whatever you did not do for the least of these, you id not do for me.”
Who are the least of these that you come into contact with? How do you treat them?
In many ways, the way you treat them is the way you would treat Christ
So how does this apply to popularity? How do you treat others around you? Are you so tied up with hanging with the “cool” crowd and the “winners” that you make fun of, neglect, or down right insult others? That is not God’s intent and it needs not to be ours.
Challenge
Remember, because God views us as loved (not one person isn’t loved); because we are God’s masterpiece - we need to view others they same way! Just because the way they dress or act is different from us, does not mean that we should or even can make fun of them. We are all loved by God and judged by God. We do not have that right to judge others.
Christ died for us all – not just you certain people. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they do, we are all God’s workmanship.
Live this week with this mindset: YOU ARE GOD'S MASTERPIECE & LOVE OTHERS AS CHRIST DOES!
Can you imagine the difference you can have in someone’s life by treating them with love and appreciating who they are for who they are? Let’s take the mindset of Christ!
Download and play “Popular” by Nada Surf
This is the world’s view of how to be popular. Being popular is so important in today’s middle school and high school. There is so much pressure on you all to look a certain way, hang with the right people and be the coolest person you can be. I don’t care what kind of social circles you run in, no one wants to be excluded or not accepted. No one wants to look like the fool amongst all the students. We all desire to be popular in some way.
In looking at being popular, I wonder if there is more to this life than being just popular. I think there is and it is found in how God views us and others.
Often times, when we view ourselves, we are our own worst critic. We see things that others will not and really judge ourselves too harshly. However, despite our perfections or imperfections, it is good to see God’s perspective on this whole matter.
Our view of ourselves
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)
We are all God’s “MASTERPIECE”
God doesn’t make a mistake – we were designed as we are; for a purpose
Romans 8:38-39 – “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. 39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Translation: we are loved!
I don’t care what you look like or what you have done – God created you to be who you are and loves you all the same.
Our view of others
Now that you know how God views each and every one of us individually, what does God say about how we should treat others?
Matthew 22:36-40 - “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Christ was asked what the greatest commandment is. Basically, he was asked, if I could follow 1 thing and 1 thing only, what would it be. His response is two-fold:
1. Love God
2. Love others as you would yourselves
He raps it up by saying that everything hinges on those 2 commandments.
So basically, if you aren’t loving God and aren’t loving people – you are missing the point. Loving others is so important – everything else is based on this! If it is so important, we need to do it and treat others as God would.
Another section in the Bible talks about this as well. I’m not going to post it because it is a long story, but here is the gist of it.
Matthew 25:31-46
Christ returns and divides the group up into 2. One group he says, come with me because, I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick or in prison and you visited me. He said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
To the other group, he told them to depart from him for they never took care of the least of them. For he said, “whatever you did not do for the least of these, you id not do for me.”
Who are the least of these that you come into contact with? How do you treat them?
In many ways, the way you treat them is the way you would treat Christ
So how does this apply to popularity? How do you treat others around you? Are you so tied up with hanging with the “cool” crowd and the “winners” that you make fun of, neglect, or down right insult others? That is not God’s intent and it needs not to be ours.
Challenge
Remember, because God views us as loved (not one person isn’t loved); because we are God’s masterpiece - we need to view others they same way! Just because the way they dress or act is different from us, does not mean that we should or even can make fun of them. We are all loved by God and judged by God. We do not have that right to judge others.
Christ died for us all – not just you certain people. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they do, we are all God’s workmanship.
Live this week with this mindset: YOU ARE GOD'S MASTERPIECE & LOVE OTHERS AS CHRIST DOES!
Can you imagine the difference you can have in someone’s life by treating them with love and appreciating who they are for who they are? Let’s take the mindset of Christ!
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