Romans 8: 31-39.
It
says, “What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not
spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with
him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against
God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus
is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we
are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For
me this is one of my favorite chapters because when I read this it brings back
this great reminder that no matter what I do, how I act, what I say or don’t
say, all my mess ups and through all my failures, He is there with me through
it all.
And
these verses may be something you have heard a lot about, but just think of
your story. We all have one, whether it is; having been through a divorce in
your family, or overcoming a struggle, or maybe like me, you have been raped or
abused in some way. You have a story.
But
these verses rights here tell us that no matter what you have done or been
through, God is there for you. He loves you, and will always forgive you for
your wrong doings. And I am not saying by going through something like this is
a sin, but since we are sinners and it is in our nature to sin, most of these
situations lead us to that. They push us away, we feel dirty, used, unclean,
unloved, unknown, lost, and sometimes it feels like we just will never be
accepted. And these are just a few examples! There ALL lies!
We
need to show love, I do not mean that you need to have a boyfriend and be like “I
love you!” I am talking about love that we all need to share. It comes from
Christ, and it is His perfect love. When we accept Christ into our lives, he
opens up these doors for us to understand more about his love. His perfect love.
He shares it with us and he wants us to share it with others who have no idea
what this real love is like.
I
find it very important that we show love to people outside the church, wherever
we go, because the people around you when you’re at church already know of his
love! I am not saying to go and be mean to your church family, but I am saying
never stop showing your love outside the church doors! You are consistently
being watched whether you like it or not, which means the people around you,
are judging you.
Now
it is your job to make the decision to leave a good
Christ-like image. One issue that stops people from showing love to
others is judgment. It is very easy for us to judge someone else. Why? We want
to prove to ourselves we are not messed up. We want to be better. We point the
finger, look there, now that person is really going through something! Not
me!
Would you want to be known as that person I can't trust,
who I wouldn't want to go to for help, someone who is mean and just thinks of
themselves all the time or the type of person who is fake and tries to be like
everyone else? NO! No one wants to be known for those things, that’s why we
should not leave the impression that we are like that.
Now
if someone besides yourself comes to mind; you are judging them right now!
See,
it can be really easy to fall into, but God tells us in Matthew 7:3, “Why
do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention
to the plank in your own eye?”
The other day I was at the youth group, and I had no
clue this kid was hurting, and yet I was pushing him away because I thought he
was weird or whatever, boy did God wake me up!
I
stood there in shock once he told me he wants to kill himself sometimes. It
took me a second trying to register what he just said. I was totally not
expecting that.
Now
this guy is one of the people that attend our youth group, but I feel like not
many people are reaching out to him. Some people think he is weird and see him as different, I
kind of did. I should have never judged him. It took me to hear that this kid
was suicidal, for God to really open my eyes! Not only me though but this whole
room is filled with people who have no idea what this guy is going through! Now
I am not saying that these people are bad and I am not blaming our church, but
just remember that the church is not a building, it’s the people, and we should
be reaching out to people more. It doesn't matter if we know their story or
not.
That's
the big consequence about judging people and one reason why we should not do
it! God calls us to love every one including our enemies! Our brothers and
sisters, our parents even when we get upset with them; Our friends even if one
were to do something to hurt you; Our enemies and strangers so they can know
how to love too!
But
just like how we judge people, God has that right to judge us, and even for so
much more! But he chooses to love us! Every day he makes that choice! Amazing
right?!
We
need to stop caring what others think about us, and stop judging others around
us and just love. Love is the greatest thing we can do. Don’t you love the
feeling of being loved? Imagine how these people will feel once they can
finally get the feeling of being loved. Right now there are people feeling
excluded from the world, left out, and unloved. We need to try and change that.
Don't forget to open your hearts up for the Lord,
God Bless.
