Sunday, March 13, 2005

Love Comes First

Hello gentle readers,

(Forgive the missing blogs, please. We're still fighting the "crud" at our house. I don't know what it is about this stomach flu that's going around, but it's a doozy. We continue to thank God that He is the Great Physician and has carried our sickness and disease for us. There is healing power in the Blood of Jesus. And we must but tap into it. So, I am praising God that all is well and we are healed...regardless of the circumstance!)

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Are you a t.v. person? I have favorite shows just like everyone does, I'm sure. Well, Sunday night is my t.v. night thanks to ABC's Extreme Home Makeover. Y'all, I wish everyone in the world could experience this show. It is a testament to the human spirit overcoming the human condition week after week. Tonight's story struck me deep inside with a truth that we all know but so often forget.

Love comes first.

In Colossians 3:12-14, the writer tells us how we should live; what are the requirements to be seen as a true child of the Most High God. But, v. 14 says it all, "And over all of these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

In tonight's show, a little girl who is recovering from a near fatal bout of cancer, asks the show to make over the hospital in which she was treated. She didn't ask anything for herself. Nothing. She only wants to help other kids just like her to feel better. As if that wasn't enough, she has taken to making beaded necklaces and selling them with all the profit going to help kids with cancer. This is an eight year old child, dear readers. How ashamed should we be of ourselves in light of this little child's continual gift?

We go to Wal-Mart with the "gimme" attitude. We go through relationships with a "gimme" attitude. We should be ashamed of our behavior and convicted to our core! We are not here to get. We are here to give! Have we become so self-serving and cynical as to keep us from fulfilling that one simple thing? LOVE COMES FIRST.

I would encourage you today, ask God to show you how to make love come first. There are a myriad of ways to make an impact on our little corner of the world. Sell baked goods. Have a yard sale. Donate that car in your yard that isn't running to a charity who can put others to work. Pass along a kind word. Mow your neighbor's yard. Fix the bicycle for the kid next door who has no dad to help him. Step outside yourself and make a difference.

Love comes first.

CLG-B

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read your blog regularly and have to chime in that I love the show Extreme Home Makeover also and saw bits of the show you are referring to with the little girl last night. I agree that we often forget that we expect others to give to us and don't think of ways to GIVE to others...thanks so much for the reminder! I'm praying for you and Patti always.

RevCindi said...

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for your prayers! You know that you, Carson, and Misty are in ours daily, too.

Isn't that show wonderful? It never fails to teach me about being selfless.

Thanks for reading and for the encouragement.

CLG-B