Effort part 2
Effort when things are good, to let someone know you care, is--in my humble opinion--one of the best ways to express love. But effort when things aren't so good... that can be even more important. Because, as my pastor always says, sometimes if you go down swinging you might not go down at all. And you guys know that I prefer to avoid confrontation a lot of the time. I don't argue with people. I don't try to convince people that I'm right and they're wrong. I pretty much go along to get along a lot of the time. But there ARE some things worth fighting for. And notice I said fighting FOR not fighting AGAINST. I think we spend entirely too much time fighting against things. I don't really like this idea of a "Christian soldier" who is always trying to "rid the camp of sin." I don't think we're supposed to be on a sin hunt at all. I think we're supposed to be on a righteousness hunt. I don't think it helps anybody to tell them what's wrong with them. It seems to me like we--for the most part--pretty well know what's wrong with us. The world does a pretty good job of hammering those points home. So, unfortunately, when someone tells us what's RIGHT with us... it seems too good to be true. We have listened to the lie for so long that the truth doesn't even seem to make sense. We're ready to fight AGAINST stuff... or we're ready to give up. That's my point. But there ARE things worth fighting FOR. How's that old song go? You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. And I can't think of anything more worthy of standing up for, fighting for, putting effort into, than love. I think love is the most important thing there is. To the point that we literally worship it. (When we worship God, who IS love.) And I'm not a fool, I know that sometimes the juice ISN'T worth the squeeze. I think there's a limit to what we can give, and what we can do. I don't think you should ever put yourself in a bad position in order to "prove" your love to someone. Remember Peter? We talked about him yesterday. He was ready to prove his love... and ended up denying Jesus three times. Whoops! That's what happens sometimes when we're so ready to fight. We get all gung-ho and end up missing the point completely. And that's why Jesus gave Peter that chance of redemption after Jesus rose again from the dead. He told Peter HOW to love Him... by loving others. That's the New Commandment: Love one another as Jesus has loved you. And it takes effort. Because charity is love in action. Random ACTS of kindness, right? And love, by definition, is giving. I've said it many times: You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. Giving everything you are and everything you have and not worrying about what comes next. That, to me, is the limit of what we can give, and what we can do. Give it all you've got, and then its either enough... or its not. But you put the effort in. You did what you can do. And that's ALL you can do. Go the extra mile for people. Turn the other cheek. Give them what YOU have instead of just giving them back what they give you. And when things aren't great... just because something breaks doesn't mean you have to throw it away. Sometimes you can fix it. Certainly, if you love it (or them) you can TRY to fix it...