"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
Luke 6:35-38
We spend a lot of our lives on remedial education... just getting past our mistakes and up to some sort of "normal." And I think part of that is because we don't really realize, in a way that affects our actions, who we are. We call God our Father, and we understand on some level that we are his children, but it seems figurative and far away. Maybe, if we let the idea of being children of God hit us in a more literal way, we would realize that we aren't the weak shades of humanity that we believe ourselves to be... unable to change, unable to resist temptation, unable to do as God asks.
God asks us not only to fix our problems, but to move beyond normalcy into amazing. He asks us to learn to love people we hate. He asks us to give to others, even people we might not think deserve it. He asks us not to judge or condemn. He knows we can... he *gives* us the power to do so.
And if we give, even to the supposedly unworthy or undeserving, and offer our love and mercy and kindness, then we will also be given to... even if we are unworthy or undeserving. I know that I could sure use that kind of nonjudgmental kindness in my life. Maybe we all could. And God promises us that what we give, we will be given. Today, let's give, and love, and offer everything we have for others, because that is exactly the kind of help that we need. Let's remember that we are children of God, and capable of so much more than we yet know. Let's help each other be amazing.
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
Luke 6:35-38
We spend a lot of our lives on remedial education... just getting past our mistakes and up to some sort of "normal." And I think part of that is because we don't really realize, in a way that affects our actions, who we are. We call God our Father, and we understand on some level that we are his children, but it seems figurative and far away. Maybe, if we let the idea of being children of God hit us in a more literal way, we would realize that we aren't the weak shades of humanity that we believe ourselves to be... unable to change, unable to resist temptation, unable to do as God asks.
God asks us not only to fix our problems, but to move beyond normalcy into amazing. He asks us to learn to love people we hate. He asks us to give to others, even people we might not think deserve it. He asks us not to judge or condemn. He knows we can... he *gives* us the power to do so.
And if we give, even to the supposedly unworthy or undeserving, and offer our love and mercy and kindness, then we will also be given to... even if we are unworthy or undeserving. I know that I could sure use that kind of nonjudgmental kindness in my life. Maybe we all could. And God promises us that what we give, we will be given. Today, let's give, and love, and offer everything we have for others, because that is exactly the kind of help that we need. Let's remember that we are children of God, and capable of so much more than we yet know. Let's help each other be amazing.
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