Give Me Love

As a Christian, I believe I have a responsibility to reach out to the lost souls around me.  This can be a difficult thing, however, especially when it calls me out from the safety of my numerous comfort zones. This past semester, for example, I had the opportunity to reach out to a friend who was struggling and near reaching rock bottom.   Praise God He gave me the strength to pour into her, however, because I know that apart from the Holy Spirit’s conviction I would have likely continued on my merry own way without a second thought.   God worked miraculously in my friendship with this particular young woman, and while I originally reached out to her thinking that I could help her, God rapidly flipped it around and used our relationship to grow and challenge me.  This particular friend and I are polar opposites in even sense of the word, and it was both exciting and beautiful to see how God worked to transform my friend’s life over the course of the semester, meanwhile humbling me as He brought me face to face with my own pride and selfishness.   I say this because by the end of the semester this friend and I were practically joined at the hip, and I confess that this was not what I had initially planned on happening.   I guess I hoped that I could help her without getting that close to her.  Yes, it’s horrible, I know.  There were occasionally times when I struggled with being inconvenienced or even embarrassed by being with her.  Like I said, we are polar opposites, and my fear of man would set in at times whereby I would become worrisome with what others thought—I didn’t want to be “guilty by association”.

So, what did God use this particular friendship to teach me?  In my sin I am proud and selfish, and when I allow these things to consume me they work against the Holy Spirit in my life.  When I give in to my pride and selfishness, I remain where I am, failing to spend myself for the sake of others. Yes, it may be uncomfortable at times, but it is called “sacrifice” for a reason.  Just look at Jesus and what He went through.  I thank Christ that He didn’t look upon me as an “inconvenience”!  I have had my fair share of failures and missed opportunities, but I don’t want to be a cop-out.   My prayer is that God will give me eyes to see the broken and needy, and to look upon them with love as Christ so graciously looked upon me. May He transform my heart, for only when I see others in this light will I have a heart filled with grace and mercy to turn towards them.   And not only will I turn, but I will run towards them, on fire with the love that God has planted in my heart.