Love Your Enemy

Have you ever thought about love?  If there is so many kinds of love, then which one does God use?  How much does He love?  Well, no man can comprehend the compassion and love God has for everything.  It is so far beyond our foolish meaning of "love" that sometimes, we don't know love at all.  How can God love you so much if you don't love him back?  Don't ask me!  I am a mere mortal!  The good part is, we don't have to know how He loves us.  All He asks is that we accept His love and love Him in return.  He also wants us to love everyone with no exceptions.  That means absolutely no "buts" or excuses.  Acceptance of others is key.  Just like Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, "'But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!'"  Now how far does that mean we should go?  What kind of love should we give them?  The bare minimum or all that we have to offer?  Have you ever wanted to love someone who does all bad?  I can show you how.

"The Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."  Colossians 3:13.  Show God that you love Him by loving the things He made.  Having respect for his creations and forgiving them.  Even the worst.  Take Hitler, for example.  He was responsible for the persecution of thousands of Jews during World War 2.  He treated them as slaves and tortured their souls for believing in something.  Without a question, we know that he is a bad man.  But let me ask you, what made him bad?  With my minimal psychological knowledge, I do know lots about motivation.  He needed to have been taught, he needed to have accepted and followed through.  To begin with, Hitler was raised in a family that hated Jews.  That was all he had ever known.  He accepted that the Jewish faith was destructive and needed to be destroyed.  To follow through, he needed an ingenious plan.  One that would arouse chaos and annihilate the entire Jewish population.  God had given him a true gift.  The face of a leader and speaker.  Basically, he had the motive and ability to kill.  Hitler attained an army and followed through.  He started World War 2.  Why should we forgive someone who did this much damage?  God forgave him.

God says that thinking about killing someone in your mind is just as bad as really murdering them.  Anyway, all sins are equal.  Murder, jealousy, and lies are all the same.  Don't tell me that you have never sinned.  Well guess what, your just as bad as Hitler, but you can be forgiven.  Hitler didn't show any guilt or regrets, but he made many enemies.  The earthly consequences don't have anything to do with how bad something is in God's eyes.

Someone Worth Dying For...you

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” 
― Martin Luther King Jr.

After hearing the song Someone Worth Dying For by MIKESCHAIR on the radio, I was instantly reminded of MLK.  It may seem bad to compare someone like him to Jesus, but he was a very godly man.  Martin was a great teacher, leader, speaker and preacher.  He was a man of God.  He was also an African American fighting for his beliefs.  Martin was willing to die to see a difference in the world.  Now, let me ask you just one question.  This is not a question to be answered right now or even soon.  Events and future experiences will make up the answer.  But is there anything in this world that you would die for?  Notice the 'this world' part.  Aside from God, could you die for a belief, a friendship or even a great memory? If not, how much would you give for the dream to become a reality?  Well, just know that he gave it all, his life, the ultimate sacrifice.  This is similar to what Jesus did, but he wasn't well aware of his death.  Just think, this was all for the world.

First off in the song, they talk about certain scenarios of self-hatred or insignificance.  All the negative things that could happen to you in life.  Sometimes we want to ask, "'God can you hear me?'"  If you've chosen a broken road that turned your life into regret, there is hope.  We all want to be loved by something.  We want to be their focus, their priority.  We want them to love us unconditionally, no matter what has gone wrong.  Knowing we can't achieve perfection, why do we try?  Every day we get up, go to school or work, but what do we get?  We get the necessities of life.  Food, water, shelter and a hope for a better future.  If you think about it, we're pretty selfish people.  Our desires, cares and concerns revolve around our world.  Now don't get me wrong, food is important, but why can't we save some time to think about our surroundings?   Back to my point, we try to say we did try.  We try to get things in return.  Like the Golden Rule of the Bible says, "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself." You get out what you put into the situation.  We try to make the world a better place for love.  If you try to love someone with everything you have, chances are, they'll love you back.  God wants us to know we are worth something.  We add a little something to life, make it more enjoyable and lively.  Start living for God, knowing you are something worth dying for and you do matter.  But you may ask, "'Am I really beautiful?'" or "Why me?" or "'Am I more than flesh and bones?'"  I don't know why not.  You're obviously here for a reason and you're going to make a difference.  Now your life is what you make of it.  There won't be someone telling you what to do, but I do know we'll all be standing at the finish line cheering you on.  

                                                      Check out their music video!!!

The Equation of Life

Is life an equation?  Life is many things.  It has a beginning and an end, an input and an output and even a solution.  God is the world's solution, but we can't find the solution without work. The equation is always changing.  

First, think of yourself as a continuous equation.  With new experiences and memories you keep putting in variables.  Each of these changes the outcome of the situation.  Your perspective determines the way you act.  If you think violence is the answer to our problems, chances are you'll be violent.  The same is true for your own thoughts.  If you have a new experience that makes you feel guilty about the way you acted in the past, the outcome would again change.  This continuous cycle of life happens every day.  Some terms in the equation have a greater impact on the solution or way you live.  If you think about your life this way you'll notice that life is easy to change.  Do you have regrets?  Do you have fears?  All of this can be hidden if you trust God and he makes a large impact on your equation.  For example, if you take -7 and add 8 to it, what do you get? A positive number, 1.  Something of a greater strength can overtake the negative and leave you with positivity and relief.  Things can bring you down, but God can always pick you up.  

Next, think of all life as an equation.  The whole entire world formed with each person as a variable.  No one is alike and everyone has an impact on the solution, big or small, good or bad.  If we continuously move in the right direction, the equation can get better and better.  Why do it?  Because we can.  Sure, we don't have to, we have an option, but when you stand at the gates of heaven and God asks you, "What have you done to change the world?" you'll have an answer.  The answer to this equation is pure love.  Love for everything equally, and that includes your enemies.  Love the ones who hate you.  Your positivity can cancel their actions.  You can never have too much compassion for someone else.

So keep your head up and do the things you love.  Do them with love and honor.  Dream big and never look back.  No regrets, just improvement.  Look up and find your way through the Lord.