Love that Notices the Overlooked

How did loving those in our circle go? Did you find some creative ways to show God's love to those around you? I love how this challenge is getting me thinking about showing love more. Not just for holidays or special occasions, but daily in practical ways. The Bible tells us that we as Christians will be known by our love. If that is our trademark than shouldn't we be working to cultivate that to be the purest love of all? Again the Bible tells us what that looks like, true love means laying ones life down. True love is selfless, it is humble, it is sacrifice, it is uncomfortable, and it is what Jesus shows us each and everyday.

I am willing to guess that loving our family and close circle wasn't that difficult. It required some extra thoughtfulness perhaps, a little bit of letting personal desires go, but the desire to love them was there. So lets bring this challenge of love even farther, this week lets challenge ourselves to love the overlooked, those who it might be inconvenient for us to love, and the hurting. I am going to tell you right now, this week if you accept this mission, you need to be prepared to be interrupted.

Think of the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:33-37). The man was rejected by those who didn't want to help him. They didn't want to be interrupted or inconvenienced. Then the Samaritan came by someone who culture would say didn't owe the man anything, in fact shouldn't they be enemies? Yet, he took care of the man. He didn't just get him to someone who could help. He went above and beyond, he made sure the man was taken care of well. It cost him financially, it probably took some of his time, there might have been some social ruffling, but he allowed himself to be interrupted.

If you are like me our days are pretty scheduled. We have things to do and places to be, but what if in our "big plans" we created space to be interrupted. What if our morning prayer time looked like us asking God to give us eyes to see those who are hurting and need his love? What if we truly desired to be used by God to show others the glory of His kingdom and His love? Those are some scary prayers, but I think it could radically change how we live for the better. Jesus was interruptible why wouldn't we choose to be too?

So here is the challenge... this week daily ask God Who do you want me to notice today? Respond once this week to a need you normally walk past. It could be as simple as encouraging a stranger, helping a struggling mom, or serving quietly without recognition. Don't stress about what to do. If you yield to God's direction He will prompt your heart to exactly who He wants you to serve. Let's go friend, lets go show the world the love that has changed us from the inside out!