We all are..At the Expense of Compassion

"I will bring health and healing; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.....I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it." **

This was said to the people Judah and Israel, people that had rebelled and lived in turmoil. It was out of a heart of compassion that God would restore the city. He wanted what was good for them all along... but this was the only way they could really understand and enjoy prosperity in the purest sense.

It took compassion. Compassion runs in cycles throughout our lives. We always come back to a place with our sin where we are desperate for His compassion. We want things to be so right with Him, but our sin repeatedly gets in the way. Simple things like abusing alcohol to larger things like upping our reputation at the expense of others. I heard someone say once that sin runs a continuous cycle: Sin- Remorse- Guilt- Embarrassment- Feeling Alone- Despair- Sin Again. We have to escape the cycle through repentance and seeking His compassion on us.

Whats the benefit? Living a life full of peace, prosperity (in a mental sense), love. We are able to be fulfilled living the life we were meant to live, stepping beyond the mundane cycles of empty sin.

The beauty of it all? He wants that for us as much as we do!

** Taken from Jeremiah 33:6-9

Anti-pride

He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. He put aside his privileges of deity and became a slave. We are called to think of ourselves the same way that Christ thought of himself. He knew he was living a righteous life, but he choose to live it out through humility and grace instead of pride. **

How did he do this? With a heart of forgiveness. Christ quoted on the cross "Forgive them for they know not what they do." To truly embrace humility in this respect, we need to take a deep look at our relationships with others and forgive others in His true love.

If Christ could do this, when people wronged him beyond belief, it should be easy for us to take steps to mending important relationships in our own lives. I have not been called a criminal, I have not been beaten physically and emotionally by the people I find hardest to forgive in my life. My areas of forgiveness should be soooooo much easier to demonstrate than the spirit of pride Christ overcame; shouldn't they be? But they aren't because of pride.

If I only could embrace the heart of Christ so much that I would want to be a slave! A slave to righteousness. A slave of love, truth, and compassion for others. With that as my motivation, it is so easy for me to truly look at people from a soul perspective instead of a comparing/competitive perspective (which is soooo ugly). To come to a place of understanding people and having more patience with them. We all have shortcomings in different areas after all. Its Gods place to show us where and how to overcome them. Prayer for mankind to embrace godliness does wonders.

**taken from the message, Phil 2:6-8

United in Convictions

If love can persuade at all, if Christ means anything to us, we are called to be united in our convictions and our love.*

The second part of this is so easy- to be united in our love, but what about our convictions? Everyone has a different conscience level. What may be wrong for one person may be right for another person because they are not yet at that level of faith to understand deep Love. To change their bad habits/ways completely would be rash if they didn't have a full understanding of love and why they would want to change in the first place. They would be more likely to back-slide if the motivations didn't come from deep within.

Its like going on a diet. We can start out eating healthy, exercising, losing weight but if we don't truly embrace and believe in that lifestyle as the way we were meant to be we will go back to our old habits. If I diet but in the back of my mind think "life would be perfect if I could eat whatever I want forever," I am dieting out of pure discipline not understanding my health. However if I were to think "I love my body and want to take care of my body and love eating healthy because I truly can live life to the fullest this way," I won't even desire unhealthy foods anymore.

Living a life of conviction is a matter of pleasing God. Yes, He does love us regardless of whether we return the love to Him or not, but I truly believe it IS possible to receive favor in His eyes. Living in conviction means contemplating our actions and treating people with respect. It means making things right when we have been wrong and living in integrity and honesty. But living right will only last if we are moved by His love to live that way. Its like spreading the peace and contentment we have in our own lives to others so they can have it too.

In a world where everyone is out for themselves, someone with integrity is looked up to. So, if we are moved to live that way, we will be inspirational to society in a positive way. But admiration should not be our goal, it is just a by-product of the Love that is very real and very present in our lives. Afterall, God is Love.

*Taken from Phil 2:1-2

Truth in Love

Truth expressed without love becomes pride. Often, truth becomes the first casualty in worldly discussion.

I want to come to a place of complete contentment in my faith and Gods love for humanity that I can live out a life of truth wherever I am. Through experiencing new relationships, I am aware of the need in this world for true love. Love in the truest sense, a love that embraces truth, a love that is blameless and righteous and lasts. A love that embraces truth.

I went out with a few friends a few weeks ago. I ended up having a few drinks at this lounge bar downtown and met a few people. This one girl, someone completely gorgeous and had every guys attention came up to me. We started talking and ended up leaving with my guy friends and a few other guys. Throughout the course of the night I talked to this one guy Abeal. He was expressing how he was in a place where he wanted to find someone that would last. He had been screwed over in the past. (He had had a few drinks and was on a tangent, but I sat and listened). At the end of the night, my guy friend (who was my ride home) ended up leaving me and I wasn't in a place to drive. Abeal brought me up to his friends place, got me water, and set up an air mattress for me – knowing that I had a boyfriend and that nothing would ever happen. He told me- thank you for listening to him. He said I could trust him and I overheard him thanking his friend for letting me stay there so that he could (in a way repay) take care of me. Then the next morning, the girl, Jennifer, came and checked on me. That night she called and asked if I was doing anything, that she felt drawn to me because I seemed like someone she could trust, someone who was “normal.”

Throughout the course of the weekend I kept reflecting on them and I realized that what people are really craving is true love. True friendship built on trust and genuine concern for each other's well-being. Someone who doesn't judge them, but loves them. I just wish I knew that balance of showing them God's love and showing them His desire for them to live a life of morality, without judging them. Showing them God's desire to get a hold of their hearts and their lives.

We all crave it, just so many times we don't know that is what we are really after. We become confused and think that we really will be satisfied with a one night stand to boost our egos. I mean, to have whatever we want whenever we want it is the American dream right? To use our amazing skills and charming looks to attract complete strangers and live a life of adventure. Although this is something that will keep us satisfied for awhile, there will be one morning we wake up and realize that we are right where we started. We have nothing solid, no go-to person who loves us unconditionally. The problem with the one-night stand dilemma is that it is completely conditional love in every sense of the word. We use what we have to shoot for the goal. Its confusing because it keeps us distracted for a while- thinking that that is all we want, but deep down its not what we were created for.

Throughout this experience, I realized that I am living a life of truth, it is less and less becoming a casualty in my discussions and my life.

Taking a risk... thats life

We have dated a month and the more I see him, the more I am falling for him. It took a string of bad relationships to realize what is golden. He is everything I could ever want! And in the last two days there has been nothing but constant phone calls from guys from my past (people I had been on a few dates here and there with). I am going to be honest with them - cut these relationships off. I want to pursue what I have with him with my whole, undivided heart. My ex contacted me this morning, another guy asked me out tonight and another guy asked me out Friday. And then there is this lingering relationship with this guy up North - who has been emailing me since March. I wrote him a few days ago explaining that I am now becoming more serious with someone I met recently. I feel that I want to be as upfront and honest with people as possible regarding where I stand in relationships.

I think it is a constant test of my character this week. I have gotten so used to living the single life. But I would sacrifice all attention from several surface-level guys just to have one deep conversation with him. He is amazing! We talked last night on the phone for an hour after seeing each other at church. He is so emotionally-avaliable and so open. I can't believe it- I wonder where he has been all my life! He has all the qualities of someone that I could easily see as becoming my best friend. He is so genuine and honest. He has strong character and wants to live a righteous life. I am just scared to give all my trust to one person again!

I completely trust him- but once we take that step - someone is possibly going to get hurt. Its a risk. We both have been hurt before. I can't explain what is holding me back. I dont even know what it is. Part of it is the investment of self and emotions and trying to find a healthy balance between falling in love and not becoming co-dependent on someone (which was what happened in my last relationship). I feel i am in a stronger place in my life now and ready to take the chance again, but what if I find out something about him that I don't like about him? I am scared because I don't want to burdon of hurting someone - but I guess thats the risk you have to take with dating. Risk hurting someone's feelings and risk getting your own hurt.

Competitve

True compassion... what is it? Is it giving to the undeserving? What makes a person deserving of compassion? God is compassionate and He asks us to be compassionate.

It is a scary thought to be compassionate because it requires us to give up our competitive nature. Our identities are made up of our reputation and what makes us different than everyone else. We are the difference we make in the world.

When we strip ourselves of our competitive nature to stick out from the rest of mankind, we can truly live a lifestyle of compassion towards others.

Doing this goes against our nature- but it is what God does. He is full of compassion towards us. It is based on His love to us. But He doesn't just let things fly. Like with sin, He is compassionate on us by giving us a second chance BUT He also requires we actively change our lives around. Making a continuous effort every single day to live right. His compassion isn't based on our actions, but it is a very central aspect of Christianity to want to be like God. Scripture repeats that we are made in His image and sin divided us from that image so we live our lives redeeming it.

However, redeeming that image has to come from a place within ourselves that isn't selfish or competitive! It has to come from a place that is compassionate.