It happened years ago, yet still I remember how humbling the experience was…and the lesson I learned from it. I had received a phone call from a stranger. The person on the other end of the line was hard to understand. Their words were choppy and they seemed abrupt and loud as they spoke. I was frustrated after minutes of our discussion. I cannot remember exactly how our discussion ended or even what they wanted, but I do know that I learned afterwards that the caller was handicapped and had difficulty speaking. I felt the size of a worm for getting agitated at them. But you see, I didn’t know, so I’m innocent, right? I couldn’t see them…how was I to know they had a handicap? Seeing or not, Scripture tells us that if I’m showing love, I will be longsuffering (I Corinthians 13). I need to see with Christ-like love.

Let’s think about some others we don’t “see” with whom we need to show the I Corinthians kind of love.

What about the person who is poking along in front of us on our way home from work. We shake our finger towards his car and mutter, “The speed limit is 55, mister! Why are you doing 35? Can’t you see I want to get home?” But what we don’t see is that he’s been diagnosed with macular degeneration, and he feels safe enough to drive in the area right around his house, albeit a little slower than he used to go. If we’d have known that, would we have been a little more understanding? We need to “see” with Christ-like love.

The woman that checked you out when you went shopping at Target didn’t even say hello! As a matter of a fact, she didn’t even smile when she took care of you! You leave the store mumbling about how rude people are nowadays. But you didn’t see that her husband lost his job and she’s burdened down with the weight of now being the sole provider for their family. We need to see with Christ-like love.

Your boss hibernates in his office today and seems exceptionally demanding. He seldom comes out, but only sends messages to give directions. Does he not believe in being personal with his employees? You and other coworkers give him the “what-for” in the break room. What you don’t see is that his wife filed for divorce last night and his heart is broken. It reminds him of the day his dad left when he was and child and he’s wondering if anyone could ever really love him. We need to see with Christ-like love.

Last weekend when you attended your favorite college football game, the guys in front of you were foul-mouthed. They yelled profanities, drank beer, and smoked in the stands, regardless that those around them asked them to stop. They all had jobs. They were all healthy, but not one of them had ever trusted Christ as their Savior because they’d never seen up close what it looks like when Christ’s love really changes a person. Would that change today because you saw them with Christ-like love?

If we’re honest, we’d admit that we all feel like we’re entitled to “nice” people around us. Good treatment is what we expect, but when it doesn’t happen, let’s stop and listen and truly see what Christ would see. It could be something far deeper, something that is there that is crying out for Christ-like love. May we each see that need and may we love with that kind of love.

How have you seen Christ’s love in others today?

Here’s how you can show love to your pastor and husband today:

Pastor Encouragement:  Pray that God will bring godly friends and encouragers to your pastor and family to strengthen them for the ministry and provide meaningful fellowship and times of rest.

Husband Encouragement:  Men respond to women who respect them. What do you respect about your husband? Is it his ability to plan, lead, show mercy, mediate peace, or delegate? Does he keep things organized or invest in others? If you feel there is nothing to respect, search harder … nearly every man has some core characteristic that can be nurtured and respected. In any case, you must still cultivate a submissive spirit to his position of leadership “as to the Lord.” Part of showing respect includes submission to his authority: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Eph. 5:23).

Action Step: Demonstrate respect. Show your respect in public by listening to him and smiling at him when he speaks. Place your hand in his as you walk together. Seek his opinion on decisions you need to make or conversations you need to have with others. Tell him that you need his support, insight, care, and love.

With love (prayerfully the Christ-like kind),

Yesterday I wrote these words in my praise journal:

Home, sweet home. I loved getting settled back in yesterday; unpacking, straightening, cleaning, nesting. I love my home; this place that Dale and I share together. It is a safe haven from the world and we love being here together.

After just returning from a trip by myself to Halifax, Nova Scotia, it may sound funny when I tell you this, but I am very much a home body.  However, I never want to get so comfortable here that I cannot pry myself away and go and serve my God.  I want my life to count for Christ, and that will require ministry outside these parsonage doors. 
 
It would be very easy for me to nestle into my  home and busy myself every day doing what I wrote in my journal…and loving every minute of it.  But there’s a world out there that needs the Gospel.  There are people – Christians and non-Christians alike that I could serve.  That will not happen if I stay comfortable.  So, this past weekend I packed my suitcase and headed to Halifax, where I had the rich privilege of speaking to a group of women who gathered for a ladies’ retreat.  First however, came the trip that would take me to the camp…
 
We rose at 2:00 am so that we could make the hour trip to the airport and get there an hour before my flight left Asheville at 5:30.  God’s grace was evident even in this, giving us strength to not only rise so early, but to also feel good while doing it!  My first flight was a quick one that took me to Charlotte, my favorite airport.  After a relatively short layover I headed to Newark Airport.  All I can say is, “Wow.”  I felt like Dorothy on Wizard of Oz – “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!”  It is a huge airport!  People, ground trams and air buses were everywhere.  The Lord is always my traveling companion.  I am so aware of His presence, guiding me, comforting me, and getting me from Point A to Point B.  I found my next gate and seated myself, armed with reading material to occupy myself until my next flight left. 

As I was seated on an aisle, I was distracted from my reading with the people who were passing or waiting on their flights.  My heart broke with a truth that was lived out in front of me –the people of today are absolutely consumed with this world and have no heart for God.   I don’t want to sound like Elijah who thought that no one but him was serving God, but all I observed were people absorbed with everything this world has to offer. 

I watched one young family with two children come to be seated at the gate.  The father got on his cell phone to (loudly) call his buddy, who was obviously taking care of their dog, as well as his business.  Cursing words and ugly statements came from his mouth.  His two sons were treated, I’m sure, with far less respect and love than the dog he left in the care of his friend.  A group of young people had joined me on the air bus earlier when I was making my way to my terminal.  Their words and actions were that of people who had been blinded by the god of this world.  They are caught up in the snares, and cares of this world’s system.  Others rushed past my seat, headsets firmly in place, or cell phones buzzing and ringing, calling for their attention, and adding to the “noise in their soul.” 

I’m not suggesting that there’s anything wrong with devices such as I’ve mentioned, but when they become a means, not of communication, but of distraction, it takes our hearts away from the God who loves us and desires to have a relationship with us.   I sat and wiped away the tears that came to my eyes as I watched scores of people pass, who needed the Light of the World in their dark hearts. 

God did give me some opportunities to share that Light with some, and I thank Him, but there are so many that are unreached, and I’m afraid I’ve been so guilty of being too comfortable to reach out and give them hope for their darkness. 

I love my parsonage home, but I pray He never lets me forget the faces of those that passed me that need to hear the Gospel.  Their hearing will only come by me getting out of my comfortable place and stepping into the world where they are.  They aren’t just in big cities at busy airports  – they are in the houses across the street, they shop at my grocery store and I meet them in the quiet library.  One is seated in the doctor’s office where I wait and another stands behind the teller window at our bank.   I must step out of my “Home sweet home” and minister to the “World, lost world.”

For whom are you burdened?  Are you willing to get a little uncomfortable and reach out to the lost that are around you?  May we be willing to reach outside our own door and rescue the perishing.

From my parsonage window,