Love requires action. However, before action is taken, the circumstances of the "object of our affection" must be considered. Bonni and I help sponsor four children, two in Haiti and two in Zambia. These children live in extremely poor conditions. One way we can love people is to tell them we love them and are praying for them. So, I could write to my children every week and tell them how much I love them and that I am praying for their circumstances to improve. If this is all I did for them it obviously would not be very helpful to them in their circumstances.
Look carefully at the immediate need when you decide to love someone. The kids in this example obviously need prayers and need to feel loved, but without food, clothing and medical help, they won't live long. Their immediate need is food, clothing and shelter, and medicine. My love for them must include these things first. That is what will impact and improve their life.
When you go to the emergency room for a serious injury or illness, the admitting personnel asses your condition and then prioritize what is most needed and in what order. They call that triage. (Triage
/ˈtriːɑːʒ/ (UK English) or /triːˈɑːʒ/ (US English)) is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately.)We as Christians who want to follow Jesus by doing for others also need to learn how to asses or triage what the needs are for those who need to be loved.
There are times when I think a silent prayer may be the perfect way to love someone in a public situation. But many times loving requires us to step out of our comfort zone and get our hands dirty, in other words get involved. There is always a risk when you get involved but Jesus did just that, He got involved with people. And, many times the people He got involved with were the ones that society ignored or avoided.
As we approach Christmas, may I make a suggestion to all of you. Do a quick inventory of all of your assets (STUFF). I'm talking financially, look in your closets, your garage, your attic, your junk drawers, (I think we have 4 of them) look at everything you have and then ask yourself this age old question,"What would Jesus do if He had all this stuff knowing that there are huge needs in this world?" Make this Christmas special for yourself, give generously, abundantly by going out and loving people in the way they need to be loved.
See you all next Sunday. Love Kent
No comments:
Post a Comment