What are we driven by?
Today . . . as we start our day . . . are we driven by thoughts of how can we be a positive force in the world? A force of good? A force of change? A force of love?
Or are we driven by making sure we and only we are taken care of?
Are those in our lives going to treat us fairly?
Are they going to show us kindness? Grace? Love?
In Saturday’s e-news I shared with you about “public service” and what does that really look like. Does it look like hoarding 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer to sell it with enormous profit? Well, maybe not . . . and I challenged us to think about what “public service” is defined as.
In yesterday’s message, I shared that a man that knows the gentleman in Tennessee sent word to me that the man realized the impact of his actions and made a change. He donated all the items to local churches. Period.
He didn’t do it begrudgingly . . . he simply saw that perhaps he didn’t make the best decision and he rectified his actions.
Today the New York Times posted another article. “He said the outpouring of hate has been scary for him and his family. He said people have incessantly called his cellphone, posted his address online and sent pizzas to his home. His inbox was flooded with ugly messages, he said. One email he shared with The Times said: “Your behavior is probably going to end up with someone killing you and your wife and your children.”
“It was never my intention to keep necessary medical supplies out of the hands of people who needed them,” he said, crying. “That’s not who I am as a person. And all I’ve been told for the last 48 hours is how much of that person I am.”
It is interesting how we as humanity continually miss the lesson that Christ tried to teach, It was EVERYTHING he taught and it is the one thing we consistently get wrong.
Threatening to kill his wife and children? And him? How in the world would that make anything right?
In all things, we should act out of love.
“How are my actions going to impact others?”
“How can I not assume the worst of others but instead offer grace, forgiveness, positivity, and love?”
Today, amidst the fear and panic that exists in our world right now, may we hold fast to the call and challenge of Christ . . . and may we act out of love.
Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”