Radical Love

Hey all you wonderful people! I just first want to thank you for once again reading these posts. It really means a lot to me that you are willing to read my thoughts and my experiences with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I just really appreciate all of you, and have a place in my heart for each and everyone of you. Prayers are always being sent. Let me just give you a little synopsis of what has been going on in this life for me. I have experienced my first week of classes back here at UW-L and I can tell you that I really missed this place. It just kind of sucks that I have to leave a bunch of people at home in order to come back to this wonderful of places. It's not the fact that I am not excited about being here or starting a new chapter with my Lord, but I miss the people from home. My friends that I saw every weekend, my family, and just my community of fellow believers at home. I miss them. I love them. This week has been a roller-coaster though. I mean for one part I was excited to be back and see everyone, but then I fell missing all of those people I listed above. I was just starting to plain out and start getting used to life again here, and then Satan just did some nasty things in my heart and in my mind. I just felt like last night that I was as depressed as depressed could be. I don't know why, but I just hit the bottom. I cried a lot and just prayed to God to just get all of these thoughts out of my brain of suicide and all of those things of no self-worth or esteem. I just was drained, and was not full of love in my heart at all. This morning at worship changed all that for me though, and I feel now as if I am overflowing with that love once again. I love this feeling of when your prayers are answered, and that the things you go through daily are worth so much more because I can continually look at the cross as my source of love and affection.

Anyway, you guys now know how my past week has been, and now I just want to bring a topic up that I have been thinking a lot about lately. That topic being the term "radical love." I know you guys probably have heard of that term before, but I want to apply this in a different aspect of our lives that most of us don't really see it. So in saying all of this, how about we jump right in?

When we think about a "radical" type of love what is it that you really think of? For me, I think of the love Jesus has for us and how he sacrificed himself for the good of all of us sinners here on Earth. You know like it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but experience eternal life." That verse explains that "radical love" probably the best that I can ever explain it. That is the one and only radical love that I could think of when I first thought about this topic, but then out of the blue I thought of a much more tangible example.

We know that Jesus loves us and fills our hearts up with that everlasting love and happiness, but a lot of us don't ever notice the love others have for us. That Jesus is being shown through people in our lives! When I think of this concept I think about the song "Jesus in Disguise" by Brandon Heath because in this song he sings about this exact concept of being that light of Jesus in other people's lives. 1 John 3:16 really emphasizes this point as well when it says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." We as followers of Christ are exposed to this love not to just keep it to ourselves and be cynical towards others, but instead love them whole-heartedly. We are called to speak the truth to them yes, and encourage them in their walks with Jesus, but we do this all out of love not for our own selfish wants or desires. I just have had a heart for this in the past week because it isn't really fair to just keep Jesus in a box that I only pull out every now and then when I need some more self-worth. HE SHOULD BE THE REASON THAT I LIVE!!!!!!!!!! I mean honestly I see so many young Christians out there that say they love Jesus, and that he is their own and only God, but don't take it serious when it says in John 3:30 that "He must become greater; I must become less."

In saying all this, I just want to leave you with a final statement. Are you being a "Jesus in Disguise" in your relationships with others? Are you letting that "radical love" that you experience shine through you and onto everything that you touch? 

Papa. I just come to you today with unbelievable praises because of how you are and how you use me as an instrument in the orchestra of your love. You are amazing Lord. Today, I just pray that we all can instead of boxing Jesus up in our hearts and only pulling him out when we are hurting or in sorrow or even sometimes when we are on unbelievable highs that we keep him as a constant in our lives. That he becomes our lives! I just pray that the idols that we put in our lives whether that be other people like significant others or our performance in school or people pleasing that we lay them all down in comparison to you Lord. You are the reason we breathe, that we have a heart beat that we can walk, talk, love, pray, eat, drink, and the list goes on and on. I just pray that we all that have come to you Lord can live like that. That we can put you number one in our lives, and love as radical as you love us. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.