No Brick Walls!

Whenever we have strong love and respect for someone, our actions show it. Imagine if Jesus Christ himself were standing in bodily form right in front of you right this instant. Would you let him have it because you had a bad day or bitch and moan about this or that? Probably not, although we do have freedom to come to him in total honestly. Probably, you'd be on your best behavior---forgetting all the petty things that had your attention---because that's the level of respect and honor that He deserves. As the song goes, "The things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Now, what about love for others? Your coworkers? Your spouse? Strangers?

Did Jesus not say that whatever we do to others, we have done to HIM?

But it's soooo easy to fall away and even forget that this is our spiritual mandate. Soooo easy to get distracted by anything and everything that seems so important.

In relationships, we can focus on the minor things. Take the woman in this cartoon for example. Perhaps she has every reason to be angry and she's "blocked" the guy completely off. Who knows what let up to this humorous situation.

When I originally drew this one, the idea was pretty simple: The guy messed up and she's finally had enough of it. In typical guy fashion, he is either trying to deny he did anything wrong at all or he's completely oblivious to his wife's feelings. Either way, he's made a mistake.

(I had a guy tell me once that satan should have been in this cartoon, handing her the bricks).

But today I see something else: How often in any relationship do we allow even the slightest perceived offense to shut us down? Someone doesn't allow us into the right turn lane as quickly as we'd hoped and suddenly every driver is "an idiot" or even worse, for the rest of the day we just won't talk to anyone because that same feeling that everyone is an idiot hasn't left us yet.

Brothers and sisters, the cost is too high. Don't shut people out, building brick walls all around you. Love with abandon! Have an attitude of forgiveness. Forgive as Christ forgave you!

Don't shut down. Reach out! And God be with you.