Can I admit something? People bug me. People in front of me in line at the store who argue with the sales clerk about every price, people who cut me off in traffic, people who talk too much and listen too little, people who are selfish, people who are late, people who break promises, people who gossip behind my back. Sometimes I ask God how He can truly love mankind when we are all such wretched creatures. But the truth of the matter is He does love us all, from the homeless, smelly man sitting in front of the drug store to the rich woman haggling about the price of toothpaste. He sees something in us that we don't see. Like the pearl in the middle of the clam or the gold embedded in a dirty old rock.
C.S. Lewis put it this way:
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, Or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations... There are no Ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
I love this! I want to remember this every minute of every day and every time I interact with another person. Everyone is immortal, everyone is priceless, everyone is an exquisite masterpiece of God's. So, I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm determined to treat every person I meet as if they were a celebrity, and I'm determined to love them 50% more than I would have.
Let's face it, most people have heard the Gospel in this country and if you mention Jesus, walls go up instantly. But I guarantee you that every person you meet is in desperate need of unconditional love. What would happen if every Christian determined to love every person 50% more? I believe we could transform the world for Christ.
Will you join me?
Great post, MaryLu! I, too, am easily annoyed by everything you mentioned. I am short on patience, so I have to try REALLY hard not to let my impatience show through!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try my best to join you, and love them 50% more.
Thank you,
~ Lori
http://sugarandgrits.blogspot.com/
I accept your challenge to try and do this with you, MaryLu. This is something I've been trying to work on, mostly with my family, but I never looked at it this way. If you like, we could try something to hold each other accountable, like by emailing or something. It's just an idea.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I'll be praying for you!
~Sasafras
Thank you for sharing these thoughts! I adore C.S. Lewis! I love thinking about everyone we come into contact with as being priceless!
ReplyDelete~Mimi B
I must admit, sometimes (okay maybe ALOT) I don't love others like Jesus instructed us to. The other day I ran into several people who were controlling and even being a road bully and holding up traffic for his buddies. I was very "ticked" off for lack of better way to discribe myself. What gives them the right to control us the way they did?? But even during my anger, I felt the Lord asking- is this a Christian attitude- can they see Jesus through the scowl on your face? No, the answer is no, Lord. Yes, 50% more- only with God's help- which we all need.
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled to accept this challenge - loving people is an awesome and simple way to witness to every person we come into contact with. If God is love, and God is in us, shouldn't we be showing that love to the world?
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing something so important to my attention and prompting me to change the way I live.
-Sapphire
I have always appreciated that quote from C.S. Lewis. Thanks for reminding us yet again to look at eternity instead of the trivial irritations of everyday life. Lately I have found myself praying for people who annoy me--that God would rebuke them not bless them(or something like that!) Now I'm the one who feels rebuked.
ReplyDeleteThose kind of people can get annoying and bothersome. Fortunately God gave me so much patience which I love to have because I don't give up on them. I always remind myself that maybe they only act that way because of something that has happened to them in their past. We shouldn't always look down on them but pray for them because many people might not.
ReplyDeleteGreat post I get upset very easy also, I can take all the time I want shopping but when I get to the check out I think there should not be anyone there but me. I have a lot of faults and find a lot in others, but I need to remember that everyone is just like me in a hurry if only to go back home and sit back down. Time is going by so fast and everyone is in a hurry, I am 66 so I sould want time to slow down but I get so bored everyday, that I am glad for it to be over, that way I will be with my sweet Jesus faster and stop some of this pain and hurt from my kids. They just don't understand how much they can hurt the old parents just like we did when we would young, but oh if I could do things over, I would be at my mama's house every time I could get there and call it every day, I still miss her so much after 29 years.
ReplyDeleteMay God bless all of you
mamat2730(at)charter(dot)net
I'm humbled and blessed by all your comments. They brought me to tears. As for me, this extra loving thing has been working! My husband has been more attentive, my step-son more talkative and my sister nearly 3000 miles away just told me that she may be open to religion now just because of a Christian lady who has shown her nothing but love. Let's keep doing this! Like pay if forward.. maybe it will catch on.
ReplyDeleteAnd Edna,I'm praying that God will prompt your children to treat you with kindness and respect.
Blessings,
I have thought about this before, but never realized that by being patient with people you are showing them a kind of love. That's really great : ) Working as a cashier at the mall, there were many times I would get so annoyed by customers, but I knew I had to keep smiling and be patient and help them because that's what I was there to do. Not only from my job description, but from God's instructions. For some reason I find it harder to do this with my family though. I guess because of the familiarity, I feel like I don't have to be as polite, and we end up hurting each other's feelings. I really need to work on that. Thanks for posting this. C.S Lewis has some great quotes. I hope you are successful in loving people more. And I will pray for your sister.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!