While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight; I’ll fight to the very end!
God so loves the world. The prevalence of evil doesn’t throw him into a paroxysm of anger but into an act of love. The power of evil doesn’t send him reeling into a fearful retreat but into an aggressive encounter in which love wins. God loves the world. Our reactions to the world are no help in understanding God’s responses. His response, though, is the greatest help in changing ours.
It is… of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we do this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement. But if we live for others, we will gradually discover that no one expects us to be ‘as gods’. We will see that we are human, like everyone else, that we all have weaknesses and deficiencies, and that these limitations of ours play a most important part in all our lives. It is because of them that we need others and others need us. We are not all weak in the same spots, and so we supplement and complete one another, each one making up in himself for the lack in another.
When your little daughter runs out after you with her arms outstretched, does it bother you how many times she falls on her way to your arms? That’s how God sees you. Your stumbles don’t offend Him. Your failures cannot defeat His love for you. We condemn ourselves with facts, but facts will not hinder love, especially when it’s stepped out of eternity and took everything into consideration when it locked on to you.
Quite honestly, most people are quick to “write someone off.” But our God is a God of the second chance. Learn from One who is patient with you, and you’ll learn to be patient with others.
Sometimes what we see as wasted time is actually the training ground for what God has in store for us. The lessons we learn and the obstacles we overcome are preparation. Even the rocks you’re struggling to climb over today may be the stepping-stones of tomorrow. God never wastes anything. There is great value in where he has led you. And even if you have strayed from his path at times, he’s a Redeemer who can transform those mistakes into future benefits to you as well.
When God shows mercy to those we don’t think deserves it, what is in our hearts is revealed. Be ready to rejoice. Mercy triumphs over judgement. Jas 2:13 Mat 5:7
We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need – regardless of race, politics, class, and religion – is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbour, and you must love your neighbour.
Too many times, people mistakenly think that the more they go on and on about the sin and junk in someone’s life, the more inclined that “sinner” will be to repent and turn to God. This is just not true. Paul tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance (see Rom. 2:4)… Instead of calling out people’s sins, we should tell them about the glory God has intended for them to live in. Result? This exposure brings conviction in their lives that they are living below the glorious standard that God has set for them.
When those on his right hand asked in surprise, “When? Where?,” he answered, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25: 34–40). With that we face the shocking reality. Jesus stands at the door and knocks. He asks for help in the form of a beggar, a down-and-out, a man in ragged clothes, someone who is sick, even a criminal in need of our love. He meets you in every person you encounter in need. So long as there are people around, Christ walks the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls to you, demands of you, makes claims upon you.