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When Pastor Pete asked me if I would be willing to share some of the ways God is leading me to love people to life, my first thought was “oh no, not me. I’m a hot mess.” I know that loving people to life doesn’t somehow come from my own goodness or my own power. But I do know that we are “God’s handwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us (me) to do…(Eph. 2:10)”
This walk of faith, seeking more, putting Jesus on the throne of my life, I’m learning, is the path of trust, obedience, surrender – it’s transformation! The experiences and struggle of my life kind of makes me uniquely qualified for the purpose He has for me, preparing my heart to respond.
He’s given me a glimpse, a small taste of how He grieves for the lost, that one lost soul. He loves us, His children, His creation, and seeks us while we’re still far away, wants a relationship with us.
He wants us to find our way back to Him, our way back home. He plans to give us a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11) God does bring healing and meaning from our painful experiences.
So as I pray for opportunities to come my way, I pray for the strength of and obedience to the Holy Spirit.
I pray for boldness and the right words. I hear the words and feel compelled to speak them. I share the hope I have in Jesus, I share what is on my heart and let God do the rest. He stirs the heart and goes before me. He is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:6)
I’ve prayed with a restaurant worker who shared her struggle with me. God has brought many of our neighbors to our door and given us the joy of sharing our faith with them.
I’ve shared and cried with my dental hygienist as she spoke of something missing in her life – this was a little tricky during a teeth cleaning!
I have spoken of God’s grace, mercy, love and forgiveness to a family member who said God could never forgive them for their past mistakes. John and I told our daughters neighbor about His love and how God sees a man’s heart, not the things man judges and how we can leave those things in God’s hands during an extremely difficult situation for us.
Some of the fruits of the spirit are kindness, goodness, and gentleness – that’s compassion! Our hearts are breaking for what breaks God’s heart. I pray my heart can break wide open if that’s what it takes and love like He does.