Everyone is worthy of God’s love, even when we act in an unlovable manner.  Everyone has been created in God’s image and everything/everyone that God created is good.   Since God is good and we are God’s creation, why can’t we love ‘everyone’ unconditionally as God does?  Why can’t we be fair and treat others in the manner in which we want to be treated?  Why don’t we respect our differences and follow John Wesley’s pattern of doing all the good we can; for as many people as we can; as often as we can!

When innocent people are hurt, what is our role in preventing this from happening again?  Do we have some responsibility in correcting this wrong?

When decisions are made that intentionally hurt families, how do we intervene in a responsible manner?

When one group organizes to monopolize our government and the economy, what can the masses do to overcome this present state?

All of the above are difficult for us because of our learned behaviors, greed, prejudices, judgmental attitudes, to name a few, to walk in Jesus’ foot prints.

Working towards overcoming our inability to love everyone unconditionally begins inside of each of us.  We must revisit our faith, love, strength, courage; seek wisdom, avoid evil, and work together like the answer depends on us, however trust, knowing that it all depends on God!  Let’s make the world a better place for the good of all!

Thought for the Week:

We can make a positive difference in our world by loving everyone, including those who make it hard to do so; by praying, trusting, using our hearts and minds; then rolling up our sleeves, putting on our boots and working diligently to overcome evil.

Prayer:

Loving God of all peoples, we thank you for loving all of Your creation.  Help us to love others in the same manner in which You love us.  Teach us how to overcome the evil as it exists in the world, today.  Please touch the hearts of evil doers and please overcome evil with good!  We can’t do this alone!  In the Name of Jesus...Amen!

After completing the blog on being grateful, I could not rest because there is more to be said about being grateful.  Friends, let’s not forget about all of the people who have made a tremendous impact on our lives.   Let’s be grateful, also, for the people whose paths we crossed that have blessed us or we have blessed them immeasurably.

As we reminisce over our past, most of us can say that someone helped us achieve the goals and missions we have accomplished.  Let’s take some time and be grateful for each person by name or description of event.  Being grateful for the assistance, guidance, gifts, or companionship we received over the years is essential to those involved.  Let’s thank God for them and then if it is possible, contact them and let them know how much they are appreciated.

Remembering the opportunities that we have experienced are another reason to be grateful.  It was not just being at the right place at the right time, but what God has for each of us is ours.  Making the most of each opportunity and being ready to embrace our blessings is essential for a brighter future!

God is able and willing to provide when we have shown maturity and growth.  Part of our growth and maturation includes expressing gratefulness for all of our amazing blessings.  Let’s be mindful that it is important to be grateful even when our opportunity does not fulfill every iota of our dreams.  God knows what we are able to handle successfully and may fulfill our dreams over time.  Either way, it is awesome to be blessed with our needs and some of our wants. Gratefulness is a necessity, not just a choice. 

Loving Unconditionally is something that God expects of us.  It is the life that God lived and one that Jesus came to our troubled world to teach us.  I wonder if we understand unconditional love.  Unconditional love means that we love others because it is the right thing to do.  We do not live in this world alone and will always need others in one manner or another.  It is healthy for us to respect others and practice loving them because we all are created in God’s image.  That being said, those of us who follow Christian beliefs have a challenge before us.  God expresses in the Scriptures that we are to love everyone with brotherly love and respect.

We don’t all look alike, speak alike, appreciate and like the same things or have any of the same characteristics.  Some of us appreciate the love that Christ has for each of us and others of us doubt the fact that because God loves us so much, we have been given a comforter, the power of the Holy Spirit.  Some of us have thrown blessings away that God designated for us.  We may think we do not have what it takes to love others, but God has given us everything we need to love others unconditionally.  We just need to tap into it!

Last week I experienced unconditional love from a total stranger.  The stranger was in the car before me at Star Bucks.  That stranger shared unconditional love when he or she paid for our order.  I was moved so by this gesture.  So, I too, expressed unconditional love by paying for the next customer’s order.  This is a small gesture, but it can take us a long way by practicing unconditional love.  It brought joy to me to know that someone else cared about how I felt that day.  Unexpected love and generosity warms our hearts and soothes our spirits.

Friends, when the Holy Spirit is nudging us, we should do our best to act on it, not sit around and think of ways to justify not loving humankind in an acceptable manner.  Love destroys a multitude of hate, discomfort, stress, wrinkles and cruelty.  Unconditional love will cure many of the ills of this world.  We can heal our brokenness by practicing loving others, instead of condemning them; by going out of our way to be nice and respectful.  Let’s try one person at a time!  Keep your faith in God and let’s step out of our comfort zones and live a life of faith that we profess.

For God to use us in a powerful way, we must be receptive to stepping out of our comfort zones and step out into the unknown in faith.  God will never leave us of forsake us.  He is waiting on us to mature so that we can make our world a better place by reaching out and making a difference in someone’s life.  With prayer, meditation and listening, we can remove the challenging factors that stand between us and a perfected world.  We can destroy cruelty with unconditional love.  May God’s word be a lamp unto our feet and light unto our paths as we strive to live the plan of good and not evil that God has for those who believe!  Let’s work diligently to change all the things that we can to enhance our lives and the lives of those we touch!