Love Them Through Me
In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus teaches that we are to be His hands and feet. "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." That sounds great in theory, but in application, it's not so easy. He is telling us that each person we encounter – whether someone we live with or work with or someone we run into at the store – we are to treat as if they are Jesus Himself.
Distractions
My sister, Theresa, called the other day hoping for some advice from me and others in the family – Mom and Debbie. Her question was, How do I break my addiction to electronics – games, scrolling, etc? Every one of us had the same response – We struggle with that, too! And since we were all in the same boat, we spent some time talking about the problem. Whatever our chosen distraction, most of us wish we had better self-discipline.
What is Sacred?
When I was a kid, church was different. We acted differently there than anywhere else. We dressed differently, wearing our Sunday best. We even spoke differently, not just the words we said but the way we said them as well. It was not your outside voice. Church was a sacred place. Everyone knew it and it showed in their actions.
Today is different. Our culture is different.
Empowered
I graduated from college in 1980 with a degree in Women's Studies. It was a new thing back then and the man who would later become my husband asked me if that meant I studied cooking and sewing. (He may have been joking…) At the time, I was interested in equality – in men and women having the same opportunities and rights in the law, work, and so on. My ideal was that each person be empowered to be all they could be.
Applying that idea to a Christian worldview, we desire that each person be all that God created them to be. The word most often associated with this idea of equality is Empowerment, which is defined as the authority or power given to someone to do something.
Try Harder!
Most of us have been told at one time or another to try harder. We're working out and the trainer encourages us to try harder—just 2 more reps. We scrubbing the bottom of a pot and it's not working. We want to give up, and we're told to try harder – scrub it a little more. The assumption whenever we hear or think "try harder" is that we have not put in enough effort, and if we did, we would succeed. It's all up to us. The truth is that trying harder doesn't always apply in the spiritual life.