Our Job Is Love

"Don't pick at people's flaws. Don't create flaws where there aren't any. But be Jesus to them."

THE TRAIN DOESN'T get the right of way at the expense of oncoming traffic. We don't grow in the Lord or mature in spiritual things, same thought, and bowl other people over. Jesus set our example in washing His disciples’ feet. Ministry is a submission to the people. It is you doing for others so that their lives improve. Peter protested Jesus' actions then embellished them. First, "You shouldn't wash my feet," then, "Not only my feet but my head and my hands." What's the point I'm trying to make? Love one another. Don't pick at people's flaws. Don't create flaws where there aren't any. But be Jesus to them.

When caught at a meal with sinners, it was religious folk who cast condemnation. And Jesus said, "Who needs a doctor, the well or the sick?" The sick. This should be obvious. But He also pointed out, another time, they'd condemned cousin John for not drinking and Himself for drinking (Matthew 11:18-19). What one minister said of this is scored in my thinking. He said in his younger years, young people from secular society would come into the church and get saved then go home and live just like they had been doing – drugs and alcohol, and whatever other aberrant behavior. They (the church) didn't condemn them nor chide them for what they didn't know not to do or weren't able to do, but they allowed the Holy Spirit to convict and bring change. "Our job was to love them," he said. Our job is to love people and to give them hope and fill them with delight in God's presence. We are to make them feel forgiven and cared for. God will do the rest.

We are not to become the train which runs over the child in his plastic car, or the teen in Mom and Dad's four door. We don't push aside the senior who has last year's model, but we stay in the tracks we've been given and stop and go as is required. We take the train to its destination and stop forcing it to stay inside city walls. We are not saved to become a Jesus amulet, warding off evil with our gleam. We are saved to become apostles (God’s sent ones), prophets (God’s spokesmen), evangelists (God’s heart), pastors (God’s caretakers), and teachers (God’s detailers), so that people who find themselves lost can see the way out, so those who are two steps behind can leap forward. We are to fix in men's hearts His desire to do the impossible so that all men who believe in His goodness can enjoy life.

“For he that wants to love life and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile. Let him turn aside from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Peter 3:10-11 MKJV)

“Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.” (3 John 1:2)

Image by Bianca Van Dijk from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com