Love them Like Jesus
Something a friend told me last night struck me as painfully true.
People know how to love when it comes to the easy things. When there is joy and laughter, when there is hope and there is life. People know how to love. But when things happen, when one of their friends are hurt and broken, people dun know how.
I learnt that the best way, is to hear their cries. Listen with the spirit to discern what the person is trying to cry out. And dun try to tell the person what the person needs to do. Dun rebuke, dun do anything. Simply listen.
One thing i have learnt, when with people who hurt, dun try to correct them. When people hurt, we want to tell them to come back to God, tell them what they can and cannot do, christiany stuff. It does work, but rarely. The best you can do, is listen, and ask the holy spirit what to do there and then.
It is the one thing i know i have. The ability to discern God's heart at the moment. And once you get there, you learn a lot of things. The father's heart, when his children is crying, is also crying. He has rebuke but he holds it in. He has words of wisdom but he holds it in. What he does, is to strengthen his children to walk on.
When someone is down, affirm the person. Dun correct the person, but hear the person, affirm the person, then talk to the person Affirmation opens doors to the person's heart, affirmation shows them you care for them even when they were running a good race. Affirmation drives them to realise that they have fallen, but that their journey so far has been worth it. Affirmation pushes them back onto realisation that truth is stronger than the pain they feel.
A lot of hurt is done by friends who accidentally cause pain to one another, whether through neglect, ignorance, or just not loving a person the wya the person needs. Recently, i fought that storm. I liek to say i came out praising God. I did, but during the storm, i failed to praise God.
But i learnt about friendship. I learnt how preachy i can get when my friends are down. To them, i apologise unreservedly. To my friends who listened to me, thanks. No counsel you can give is better, than a ear you devote to listening. No counsel is wiser, then the knowledge you care. That is all.
So many of my friends meant well, started to show me the word of God. When i am down, the word means little unless the person knows to speak the rhema and not the logos, where the former refers to the living word and the latter, the written. There is a difference. Spiritually and emotionally.
But through it all, God called me to do one thing. Love them. Love them like He loved them. (He also rebuked me but that is for another thing)
I thank God that he gave me this privilege. I know it is his heart for his people. But the God we serve is bigger than all things. We let God be God.
People know how to love when it comes to the easy things. When there is joy and laughter, when there is hope and there is life. People know how to love. But when things happen, when one of their friends are hurt and broken, people dun know how.
I learnt that the best way, is to hear their cries. Listen with the spirit to discern what the person is trying to cry out. And dun try to tell the person what the person needs to do. Dun rebuke, dun do anything. Simply listen.
One thing i have learnt, when with people who hurt, dun try to correct them. When people hurt, we want to tell them to come back to God, tell them what they can and cannot do, christiany stuff. It does work, but rarely. The best you can do, is listen, and ask the holy spirit what to do there and then.
It is the one thing i know i have. The ability to discern God's heart at the moment. And once you get there, you learn a lot of things. The father's heart, when his children is crying, is also crying. He has rebuke but he holds it in. He has words of wisdom but he holds it in. What he does, is to strengthen his children to walk on.
When someone is down, affirm the person. Dun correct the person, but hear the person, affirm the person, then talk to the person Affirmation opens doors to the person's heart, affirmation shows them you care for them even when they were running a good race. Affirmation drives them to realise that they have fallen, but that their journey so far has been worth it. Affirmation pushes them back onto realisation that truth is stronger than the pain they feel.
A lot of hurt is done by friends who accidentally cause pain to one another, whether through neglect, ignorance, or just not loving a person the wya the person needs. Recently, i fought that storm. I liek to say i came out praising God. I did, but during the storm, i failed to praise God.
But i learnt about friendship. I learnt how preachy i can get when my friends are down. To them, i apologise unreservedly. To my friends who listened to me, thanks. No counsel you can give is better, than a ear you devote to listening. No counsel is wiser, then the knowledge you care. That is all.
So many of my friends meant well, started to show me the word of God. When i am down, the word means little unless the person knows to speak the rhema and not the logos, where the former refers to the living word and the latter, the written. There is a difference. Spiritually and emotionally.
But through it all, God called me to do one thing. Love them. Love them like He loved them. (He also rebuked me but that is for another thing)
I thank God that he gave me this privilege. I know it is his heart for his people. But the God we serve is bigger than all things. We let God be God.
posted by W | Sunday, February 11, 2007
1 Comments:
*nods* a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a word of prayer, a warm touch, a tight hug .... speaks louder than any words uttered.
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