DAY 48 - LOVE MATTERS
ZACH ATWOOD, YA EVENTS & OPERATIONS TEAM LEAD
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” John 4:11
Let’s be honest with each other, there’s many a time that we catch ourselves complaining about people. We make jokes about the coworker that talks too much, we criticize family members behind their backs, and we’ve all made the comment, “Aghhh, people are the worst!” We claim that it’s all fun and games, but do you think that “harmless” thought life has affected us more than we can see?
As humans, I think our default setting isn’t “love.” Since the fall of man, we are naturally inclined towards judgment and fear. We see it first with Cain and Able, we see it with Sarah and Hagar, we see it with Jacob and Esau, and that’s just in the first book of the Bible! We have foundations of fear and hate built into us naturally.
So why do we keep feeding those natural, sinful thoughts with our sassy jokes and comments? Yeah, we will get a chuckle, we might find some pleasure, but, in the end, the roots are still there and our sinful thoughts still live. This way of living is not helping you fix your foundation. It’s creating a false sense of emotional relief because you’re unhealthily processing with people (and there is a way to healthily process with people). You’re not taking those thoughts captive and working through them with God.
Part of “taking up our cross” daily is deciding to put to death those emotions counter to love. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t easy to do. We have to fight our natural instinct. We have to make the conscious decision to love others without judgment, without bitterness, without fear.
Imagine that this hate toward others is a weed in the garden. Every time we make a joke or comment about a family member, a friend, a coworker, a stranger, or whoever, we are watering that weed. It might be a drop of water here, a sprinkle there, maybe a downpour one night, but that water hits the roots and starts to grow. Your little quip turns into fear. Your complaint turns into bitterness. Your comment turns into hate.
So Young Adults, what will your words be watering today: fear, bitterness, hate, or joy, peace, love? Your words and thoughts will guide the watering can.