Love is a verb

WWJD bracelets were a huge phenomena of the 2000’s. Every kid had  them and would mock other kids in their  decision making by jokingly using that  four letter phrase. The one part of this  little phrase that I think gets misunderstood or simply disregarded is the “D” at  the end. What would Jesus do? Not just  think. How would Jesus handle himself  in this situation? How would Jesus actually act? It’s so easy to say we love every- one, but would we really let all the children come?  

I feel as though some people have  misconstrued ideas of their faith being  “perfect.” As if that’s actually a possibility. The reality is that we don’t know  God or that we’re even correct in what  we believe. It’s a hard reality to face, I  know. We live in a society that thrives on  glaring at others’ failures. Well, look at  your own. Are you really living as Christ  would? Personally, I can say that I certainly struggle with this and am in no  way better than my neighbor.  Faith isn’t just in our heads; it’s a living, breathing part of our lives. The fruits  of the spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. If these are  supposed to be the indicators of Christian life, then why exactly do we live the  lives we do?  

Love, it’s what I was raised to believe  is the most important teaching the Bible  gives us. Show your neighbor you love  them, be a friend or a shoulder to cry on.  Exude love in whatever you do. Unless I  don’t understand the other eight fruits  correctly, none of them contradict what  we are to do according to love. It’s unconditional. Part of this is disregarding  any differences one may have with some- one else, and that may be the most difficult part. In order to fully care and love  someone, we must be able to truly realize that they’re our brother or sister in  Christ, our neighbor and someone who’s  also made in the image of God. When Jesus said, “Let all the children come,” he  did not include, “unless they’re different,  then no.”  

Declaring love is very easy. Dear  reader, I love you. That’s true! I do love  you, we’re called to love everyone. But  reading that didn’t incite too many emotions, did it? Well no, because I didn’t  show you that I love you. It’s the same  way with our faiths–prove it! There are  very few things I wouldn’t do for the  people in my life. Every once in awhile  I feel the absolute need to make sure  certain people know they’re loved. My  group of friends in high school consisted  of me and eighteen girls. By no means  should I be considered a “player” in any  sense of the word either, they’re like my  sisters, and I love them all. At one point  one of the girls that’s closest to me began  to tell me that she struggles with feeling  beautiful, and has body image problems.  I felt terrible, how could I let any of my  friends go through that? So the next day  I told her how beautiful she was, I had to.  Oddly enough that really didn’t feel like  enough… So I went to my entire friend  group and told every one of those girls  that they’re all incredibly beautiful in  their own way. They’ve never forgotten  what I said, and I’ll be honest, I don’t re- member what exactly I said, but I brightened their days and showed them love.  Once we realize how much our joy and  love means to other people, not just our- selves, we’ll live such amazing and fulfilling lives that we can feel love and joy in a  true sense, just as God gives it to us.  

I’ve been told by some people that  there’s a difference between being a moral person and being a Christian. While  that may be true, being a moral person  does not mean you are not a Christian.  There are many moral people who are  Christians, and many Christians who are  not moral. A lot of what I do and say re- lies on God showing me my morals and  how I feel called to live. My faith isn’t in  my head; my parents taught me to live it  out and see the lovableness in others that  Jesus saw as well. All people, all the children, and it’s not easy, it’s actually incredibly difficult. Jesus walked on water and  asked Peter to join him. Peter declared  that he had faith, but when tested, when  told to stand out on the water, where he  was no longer just in his own head or  testing his faith by himself, he began to  sink. Peter, of all people, sank. Someone  who stood by Jesus’ side through almost  everything. How in the world are we  then supposed to be like Christ? If Peter  can’t, I can’t, right? Absolutely not! We  all have to prove our faith to the world  and to fellow Christians through the love  we show to the world.  

There are many interpretations of the  Bible that divide people and nations, but  we seem to forget the biggest teaching  that the Bible has. John 3:16: “For God so  loved the world that he gave his one and  only Son, that whoever believes in him  shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Wow, if God is willing to give up His one  and only son because He loved the rest  of the world, why can’t we make some of  those same sacrifices for those around  us? “For God so loved the world…” God  knew the world was sinful, God knew  the world was wrong, God knew that  the people He created in His own image were faltering at their own Father’s  teachings. But God did not falter. God  loved us unconditionally. We need to  exude this same unconditional love, not  just in our minds, but in our actions and  lives, because I, for one, do not want to  sink when called to stand out upon the  water.