Friday, August 13, 2010

Radical Love - Angel Ministries

Have you even visited Angel Ministries?  I heard about it from another blogger, and I cannot remember who - I am so sorry!  Anywho, I subscribe to their daily emails, and today's really grabbed me.  I couldn't resist sharing.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 NIV

We love others, who meet our needs, whom we get along with, who make us feel good, who do things for us, whom we like.

In essence, our fist concern is for our own well-being and having our own needs met, and we love others in proportion to the extent they fulfill those purposes.  Our second concern is that others respond positively to our overtures; if they don't, we refuse to continue to love them.  But Jesus outlined a radically different kind of love - a love that puts the needs and well-being of others before our own to the extent we would sacrifice our time, our energy, our money and our thoughts in order to demonstrate it.  We are to demonstrate it to others whom we may not like or with whom we may be incompatible or who respond negatively or who may never do anything for us in return!  Now that's radical!

What an amazing reminder of how to treat other people, especially those that treat you badly - or without kindness and respect.  I would love to be someone that lived by this!  (I'm trying!)

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