Something that my friend Katie Copeland said to me several months ago has stuck with me ever since. She was telling me about another friend of hers that was also a missionary. I don't remember which country she was living in, but everyday, on her way to work, she would have to walk past a group of men that would harass her. They would say horrible things to her, make gestures, basically they just enjoyed trying to make her miserable. And when she would talk about it with Katie, she would say things like "I'm just having a really hard time loving them right now." Because she understood. She understood that we are called to love, that we are called to show the love of Jesus to everyone, whether they deserve it or not, because Jesus loves us, even though we don't deserve it. Her reaction to these men, to try to show love to them, is not a typical reaction. It's shocking. And when Katie was recalling this story, she told me that her reaction was "Wow, you've been spending a lot of time with Jesus, haven't you?" That is the sentence that I have thought about repeately ever since.
"Wow, you have been spending a lot of time with Jesus, haven't you?"
And in that moment, I knew that I wanted to live the kind of life that causes that kind of reaction. I want to have such a close relationship with Christ that the things that I do or say are so abnormal and so shocking, that people have no other reaction but to accuse me of spending a lot of time with Jesus. And most days, I fail. Most days, people probably would not have that reaction to my life or to the things that I say. But it remains my goal. God puts this thought in my mind often: When people look at my life today and listen to the things that I say, will they look at me in surprise because they can tell that I have a deep, personal relationship with Christ? I hope so.
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