Saturday, March 6, 2010

Just Wanna SHOW You Love!

I was listening to the radio yesterday, and this older song came on that I have heard and even sung along with many times before. Something was different though...I actually listened to the words...

Please forgive me
If I come on too strong
I get a little anxious
When I talk about God's love
Hold me back now
Stop me if I start to preach
'Cause I don't want to be the one
To push you out of reach
The way to give love
Is how you live love
That is what I'll do
You cannot fight it
You can't deny it
Love will get to you

Chorus:
Don't wanna get up in your face
Don't wanna put the pressure on
Don't wanna make you run away
Just wanna show you love
Don't wanna beg you to believe
Don't wanna take you for a ride
Don't wanna sell you anything
Just wanna show you love
Show you love
Just wanna show you love

I won't convince you
With anything I say
But maybe you will see His love
In how it is portrayed
An act of kindness
A loving sacrifice
Simple little things that have
The power to change your life
There's no surprises
And no disguises
Just the blessed truth
No obligation
No complication
Just a gift for you.



Ok, well now what did you hear? A song all about how she wants to show you love, right? She doesn't want to get up in your face, she doesn't want to put the pressure on, she doesn't want to beg you to believe, she just wants to show you love!

Well, I DO want to put the pressure on! And, I DO want to beg you to believe! But, it's because I want to show you love!

Now, I understand that getting up in someone's face and preaching AT them, just isn't very cool...but loving someone without even sharing God or the Gospel with them just isn't very cool either!

I understand the desire to help those in need, and as Christians this should be a natural desire for us. I pray all of the time, seriously almost everyday that God would bring me to someone or someone to me that I may be able to serve for Him. I know the strong desire to help those that are without, those that are depressed, those that are just having a hard time in this world! But, is just loving someone (no matter how wonderfully strong your love is) enough for their eternal needs?

The "Love 'em like Jesus!" thing is so super-duper popular, but what does that even really mean? Did Jesus just hug and kiss people and love all over them like crazy? Did He just feed, clothe, and hold hands with the poor? No...so, I think when people say, "Love 'em like Jesus" what they are really saying is, "Just do nice things for people and don't ever talk about things that may offend them...things like, hell or sin, or repentance, or that Jesus is the only way kind of stuff". But, is this what Jesus did? Is this "loving 'em like Jesus"? Nope.

Jesus was VERY loving, I won't deny that...but, didn't He Himself preach about hell, sin, repentance and that He is the only way? (Matt 4:17, John 14:6) YES!!! And yes, He also preached about love. But, when He defeated death and rose from the dead He told His disciples to go out share the Gospel, that included sharing the need for repentance. This means today's Christians also, and it was a command...not a suggestion (Mark 16:14-16).

As a professing Christian when you love on people without ever even mentioning Jesus, then that was just simply put, "a wasted evangelizing moment". You just wasted your time, the person in need's time, and more importantly God's time. So, do we have to yell and scream on some street corner telling people that they are all going to burn in hell? No, of course not...that would be pretty crazy! But, if you want to show them love, at least take the time to also share with them their need for a Savior. Savior from what? Savior from their sin. What sin? All of their "mistakes", "whoopsie-doos", "boo-boos", "bad choices", "past decisions your not proud of", "things you do in secret & hope no one ever finds out"...SINS that have been committed against a holy God. See, we have to share not only our love, but also God's love. God loved us even while were still sinners (Romans 5:8), He loved us so much that even though we didn't at all deserve it, He sent His only Son to save us (John 3:16). Those that we love, need to know this if they don't already! And, if you are a Christian then you must believe that without Christ, you will perish. If this is so, then wouldn't you want to tell as many people as you possibly could...especially those that you love?!

So, this train of thought
..."Don't wanna get up in your face, Don't wanna put the pressure on, Don't wanna beg you to believe, Just wanna show you love"...shouldn't be in existent to a true, loving, and caring Christian. You should want to beg and plead with those that you love to believe...BECAUSE you love them!!!

Go ahead and clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give to the poor, show compassion for the hurting...but also show them love and share with them who the God of the Bible is! Without the truth of the Gospel your just taking care of their temporary physical needs, and completely ignoring their eternal/spiritual needs. Just showing them love is making the here and now a bit better, but what happens if they pass through this life without Christ?

People will be offended. The true Gospel is offensive and it convicts. But, that's ok...taking offense to something that is true isn't really a bad thing, it leads to conviction and guilt, which then leads to having faith, repenting and turning away from sin, which then leads to eternal salvation! The truth hurts sometimes, and that's ok. My son Jordan just this morning said,..."Well, Obviously Jesus offended people when He preached...He was crucified!" Now, I don't want to offend someone so deeply that I am murdered, but I can't tender-foot around things and make the Gospel all pretty and fluffy so to not offend. And, I need to pray that God will give me the courage to always stand firm for Him. Love them enough to share Him!

Another couple verses in the song..
."The way to give love, Is how you live love" This is VERY true! The way you love God will affect how you give love! If you are living for Him, you will love like Him and live out that kind of love! If you can die of self and love God and others much more then yourself and your fears of rejection, you'll be able to share Him much more naturally! Believe me, I am scared to death to share Him, but I know that as a Christian I need to! So..."That is what I'll do!"

PLEASE Christian truly "Show Them Love"!

2 comments:

  1. Hey Facebook Friend,
    I always enjoy reading you updates expressing the joys and frustration of motherhood. Those days are in my rearview mirror, but I can still remember them. I remember how often I felt bewildered and overwhelmed. It seemed as they would be small forever, back then. Now mine are grown and flown and I don't know where all the time went. I noticed that you have a blog, so I thought I'd drop you a note to remind you to enjoy your little monkey-poos and keep posting the cute stuff. Oh, and those wedding pics are great. They really tell a story, right?

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  2. Absolutely awesome and true. Thank you for sharing your heart, Christina! Have an awesome b-day :)

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