11.06.09
Do you give Love a bad name?
I recently heard of a sermon done by a Pastor saying he was proud to be a Lutheran and that got me thinking – am I proud to be a Christian? I have to say from deep in my heart my soul is crying, “No!” and I want to share why. Over the last few months God has been showing me the masses of people who have turned away from God and are angry with Him. I have felt the heaviness of their hearts, the desperation of them wanting to know God but a distance and a hurt that seems almost irreversible. God would continue to wake me in the early morning hours to “fill the gap” for them. He would say pray, pray and pray some more for these hearts/souls. Why God? Why is this happening? He then began to show me why and the sadness that came over me was so deep.
He started bringing person after person into my path who had turned from God or was very angry with Him. I just loved on each of them and would gently ask why. Time after time it was because a Christian had done something very harmful and forever wounded their heart. They have been judged, they have had others turn on them because of gossip, they have been made to feel unworthy, they have been told that they aren’t good enough or will not amount to anything, they are struggling with sin (whether it is an addiction, being gay, whatever) so were kicked out of the church and told that God does not Love them, that their mistakes are too big for forgiveness – the list goes on and on … these are ALL LIES!!!
My heart wept deeply, very deeply.
But not as deeply as when He began to show me the very people surrounding me in my life with the same judgment, the same gossip, the same approach – their hearts being filled with everything but unconditional Love. If they hurt me so deeply and tried to make me stumble, then how much more pain and harm is it doing to people who do not know God yet or are just growing their faith? The sorrow that overcame my heart is hard to put into words.
Let me tell you “this” lesson, I did not want to learn or go through because there is so much pain (I had no idea until I lived it!) but it was an important one and I am more than blessed for having gone through it. I want to encourage you to do some inner reflecting and spend some time in prayer asking God, “Am I one of your children who gives Love a bad name?” The title of this blog dropped in my heart when I was flipping through the radio and an old song came on, “You give love a bad name”.
God sent His Son to teach us to Love and clearly spell out for us that the TWO MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENTS are to LOVE GOD, AND LOVE OTHERS so we need to understand the importance of being able to live unconditional Love. It is not easy but the reward far outweighs the hurt from others. Someone once said to me, “If you continue to see the good and love everyone you are just going to end up hurt.” Well sadly there is a lot of truth in that statement but what keeps me going is at the end of each day I stand before God saying, “Father did I Love like you today?” And He says with a smile, “Yes, child you did even when they spit in your face.” He then overflows my heart with every bit of Love I gave out that day and then adds even more!
Please love one another and desire from deep within your hearts for God to teach you how to live unconditional Love even through the hardest of circumstances. You can do all things thru Him so just ask and He will show you.
With MUCH Love to you all!
Sandi Rauwolf
Author, Blessings Too Good
