Guest Blogger Ashli Renee Copeland
Reflection: Church Hurt
My
answer came when I spoke with a young lady (who requested to remain
anonymous) at a local Walmart. I asked her what it was that had turned
her away from church. Why had she stayed away from a place that gave me
such joy? Her answered surprised me.
It
had nothing to do with the church itself or even Jesus, but in fact the
people who were supposed to be representatives of him. She had gotten
pregnant and had been shunned. The women of the church whom she once
looked up to began to speak harshly behind her back, and the things they
did say to her face were horribly hurtful. "Maybe you should have kept
your legs closed" or, " You just couldn't wait until you were married
huh"?
The
people who she once felt loved her the most, had turned their backs on
her. When she needed guidance or someone to just tell her that things
were going to be alright, no one was there. All they knew was that she
had sinned. She had premarital sex, and had gotten pregnant. But you
see, because they were so caught up on the appearance of what they
thought was sin, they failed to present the appearance of Christ.
The
truth was that she had gotten raped by her uncle. The "sin" that they
placed upon her was false. She hadn't planned to become pregnant and she
wasn't even interested in sex at all. She valued her body, and
respected her God. This was purely work of the enemy, and the people in
the church only added gasoline to his fire.
This
was a pure case of judging too quickly, and not loving with the love of
Christ! We are representatives of him. Every move we make or word we
speak should be for his glorification! We should love others because
Jesus loved us first. It doesbt matter what sins we committed. When we
fall, he is right there to pick us up and dust us off. We have to love
like him, but how does he love?
Paul writes a clear explanation of what this love should look like. The passage is in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.
And it says
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
So
you see you guys...you can't always judge a book by its cover. If there
is anything I want you to get from this story it's this, love with
understanding, and compassion, and peace. Help others and actually read
their story before you say you don't like it. We all have fallen short,
and no sin deserves more Hell than another. As I've said many times, we
are representatives of the Christ ...So let's represent him well.
️Ashli-Rene
Informative Blog on What is Love?
Photo Credit: Google Images
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT
[4]
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud [5]
or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it
keeps no record of being wronged. [6] It does not rejoice about
injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. [7] Love never gives
up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance.
Love. A word that has been used and expressed at the greatest attempts by many. Love. A word that is meant to exclaim admiration, concern, care, and trustworthiness. Love. A word used to pledge safety for someone so that they can be vulnerable. Love. A word that means that one would put someone else's life before their own.
The
New Oxford Dictionary defines love in serval different ways and among
them include: an intense feeling or deep affection; a deep romantic or
sexual attachment to someone; a great interest and pleasure in
something;
If you do a word study on the word “love” you
will find that there are four types of love. The first type of love is
called Phileo and this love the affectionate, warm, tender, and platonic love that can be found in a friendship. The second type of love is called Storge and this love is for
family and friends, it is the love that parents naturally feel for
their children. The third type of love is Eros and this is the romantic
and intimate type of love of an
emotional or sexual type. The commonality in the first three types is
that they can fail at any moment because they are all conditional, they are based on a feeling and feelings can change instantly.
The fourth type
of love is the one I really want to talk about and it's called Agape,
the God kind of love. Why is it the God kind of love? Because like God
it will never fail. This type of love is unconditional and sees beyond the outer surface and accepts the recipient for whom they are, regardless of their flaws, shortcomings or faults. This kind of love is all about sacrifice and giving.
There are many things that come along with the love that God has for us and I will like to just touch on a few.
1. God loves us so HE protects
Psalm 91:14-15 NLT
[14]
The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those
who trust in my name. [15] When they call on me, I will answer; I will
be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.
God
loves us and He wants us to love Him and in doing so as witness for
Christ we are protect, we are in witness protection. God said in His
word that He will deliver us and He said that if we call on Him that He
will answer and be with us in trouble. I like how the The New Living
Translation of Psalm 91:4 states "He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection"
2.God loves us so HE guides
Psalm 25:6-8 NLT
[6]
Remember, O LORD, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have
shown from long ages past. [7] Do not remember the rebellious sins of my
youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are
merciful, O LORD. [8] The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows
the proper path to those who go astray.
God
loves us and will be our guide giving us instructions and showing us
the way we are to live. It does not matter whether we are sinners or
saints the scripture says that God is up right and he teaches the
sinners the way. Isn’t
that something, whatever you have on your sin rap sheet God will not
throw you away, God will take the time and minister to you and teach you
the way to live upright and just.
3. God loves us so HE corrects
Hebrews 12:6 NLT
[6] For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child."
Revelation 3:19 NLT
[19] I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
God
loves us and one way He shows his love is by correcting us. When God
sees us straying away or doing things outside of His will God will
rebuke us. Just as a loving natural father disciplines his children God
does the same to us and gives us reminders to stay inside of His will
and His way. When we do stray and receive our rebuke we must not be
grievous but instead acknowledge our faults, repent, and learn from
them. It is God’s way of keeping us in line so that we are in position to receive His promises.
4.God loves us so HE saved us
Romans 5:8-10 NLT
[8]
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us
while we were still sinners. [9] And since we have been made right in
God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's
condemnation. [10] For since our friendship with God was restored by
the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly
be saved through the life of his Son.
God
loves us so He saved us by sending is only Son Jesus to die on the
cross for us and redeem us from our sin. Even as sinners, as enemies of
God He still loved us.
While we were cursing His name, involved in all other manners of sin He
after all the mistakes we have made and would make He loved us enough
to save us.
To my readers:
What is love?
The concept of love is one of the greatest driving factors in life. Over time the original intent of the use and expression of the word love has been abused and falsely proclaimed. So
how can we get back to the original intent of what it means to love?
The answer is simple, we must go back to the source and love they way
God loves, unconditionally. God gives us two simple directions to
accomplish it: 1) Love God with every ounce of our being and 2) Love our
neighbor as ourselves. Are we willing to protect, guide, correct, and
make the ultimate sacrifice in order for someone else to live? and
Despite their flaws?
That is love.
Reflect. Inspire. Change
Ewing Ikard II
www.myspiritchecker.com
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