show me how to love like You have loved me
Today I was reading through my study book for Leslie Ludy's "Authentic Beauty". It talked about loving through Christ and focusing on Him and making it about Him and not ourselves. In the book, Ludy included an excerpt of Betsy ten Boom's story about arriving and suriving through the concentration camp at Ravensbruck. The room she and her sister Corrie were put in was flea infested, over-crowded, and smelly. Yet Betsy saw that God had a reason for them being there. She was in the most miserable conditions and yet she made it not about herself. She saw the harsh guards as lost people looking for a Savior, she thanked God for the overcrowded room because she was given the opportunity to share the gospel with the other women, she praised the Lord for the Bible not being discovered when they were searched, she even thanked the Lord for the fleas and terrible conditons because the room was so foul the guards never checked up on them so they were free to lead worhsip services in that little overcrowded room.
All Betsy was set on was honoring and glorifying her Prince. She had her heart set on worshipping her Lord even though she was suffering. It is mentioned that when she died she "glowed with radiance and looked so at peace, so serene". The study guide asked the question:
Are you willing to accept the call of Christ to love with His love, even when it seems humanly impossible?
This got me thinking, okay so I'm not living in a concentration camp and I'm not being persecuted for my faith in horrible ways...but isn't it hard to love on others when they hurt you? isn't it hard to love on people when you see them as unlovable?
Its so easy to reach out and love those in need. But to reach out to those who hurt you or annoy you? how can that be done? Iam realizing that I need to make myself second and put God first when it comes to loving others. I need to focus on "how can I draw this person closer to Christ?" not how I am feeling.
Betsy ten Boom could have complained about how much pain she was in, how miserable she was and how sick she was feeling. But she didn't, she made herself become less and found Christ's perspective on everything.
All Betsy was set on was honoring and glorifying her Prince. She had her heart set on worshipping her Lord even though she was suffering. It is mentioned that when she died she "glowed with radiance and looked so at peace, so serene". The study guide asked the question:
Are you willing to accept the call of Christ to love with His love, even when it seems humanly impossible?
This got me thinking, okay so I'm not living in a concentration camp and I'm not being persecuted for my faith in horrible ways...but isn't it hard to love on others when they hurt you? isn't it hard to love on people when you see them as unlovable?
Its so easy to reach out and love those in need. But to reach out to those who hurt you or annoy you? how can that be done? Iam realizing that I need to make myself second and put God first when it comes to loving others. I need to focus on "how can I draw this person closer to Christ?" not how I am feeling.
Betsy ten Boom could have complained about how much pain she was in, how miserable she was and how sick she was feeling. But she didn't, she made herself become less and found Christ's perspective on everything.
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