Carefree part 3
Yesterday we talked about being "careful" or full of care. Too much anxiety or worry keeping you from doing anything. Today I want to talk about being careless. Or reckless. Because unless you're being carefree, no matter what end of the spectrum you're on, you're missing out on that Holy Spirit sweet spot. Being careless is being selfish. Putting yourself first and not thinking about how your actions affect other people. This is the opposite of being Christ-cented. Jesus said, "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). How we treat people is how we treat God. Our relationships with people is, in a very real way, our relationship with God. Because God lives in people. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. If we're only ever trying to get things from people... that's probably how we relate to God too. Treating Him like a genie in a bottle and hoping for three wishes. Love isn't about getting. Because love IS giving. So when we're talking about being carefree, and when we're talking about NOT being careless, we need to understand how important it is to take care of people. To look past ourselves and see what other people need. One of my favorite verses: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4). If I take care of you, and you take care of me, neither one of us has to worry about ourselves. It's really that simple. If you see a need in someone else and meet that need... that's the greatest expression of love a man can have. Lay down your life for your friends. Live out of your abundance. If you see someone without a coat, and you have two coats... it's easy math to see that you could both each have one coat. Being nice isn't hard. Unless you're worried about losing what you've got. I think that's a big reason why people act the way they do--I think people are afraid that if they give away what they've got, they won't have anything. But that's not how love works. Love IS giving (I may have mentioned that). The more you give... the more you have. You are connected to the unlimited source of love. It (HE) lives inside you. Love is like a snowball. All it takes is a little push and it rolls downhill, getting bigger and bigger as it goes. So start small, if you have to. And you'll find out that the little things really are the big things. I've seen so many relationships ruined because one (or both) of the people involved were careless with the other person. If something (or someone) is important to you... you take care of it (or them). So in that case, it's better to err on the side of being careful. Not in the sense of being full of cares and worries, but in the sense of treating people the way you would want to be treated. Not the way you think you should be treated--because most of us have convinced ourselves that we don't deserve anything good ever--but the way you WANT to be treated. Everybody wants love. Everybody wants to feel special. Well, get the ball rolling. Love someone. Treat someone special. Don't worry about whether or not they "deserve" it, because deserve's got nothing to do with it. Love without condition. Love without judgment. Love fearlessly. Carelessly. I don't care who you are or what you're doing... I love you. At the end of every Jesus Rant podcast episode I say, "I love you... and there's nothing you can do about it!" Because that's what love is. Love isn't careful, but it isn't careless. It is carefree!