Love Now

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”-Mark 12:31

One of the things I love the most about Jesus is the fact that He not only told us to love one another, but He showed us first. With His heart, His hands, His feet, His words, His soul, His very essence. It was the least of these who understood the love of God the most. The broken who felt His healing in the deepest of ways. The outcasts who found their home within Him. The hopeless who knew His hope. It was the those who walked in complete darkness who appreciated His light the most.

Why? Because Christ didn’t come to earth for the shiny, the clean, or the whole. He came for the dirty, the broken, and the sinful.

Because of His sacrifice, we were given the gift of abundant life, rich life, full life. And yet we walk around each day with this priceless gift tucked safely away within our hearts for fear that we could be scoffed at, tossed aside, or bumped down a few scales in our social status. If you think about it, we trade in the opportunity to give others a taste of abundant life and fullness in the ETERNAL presence of Jesus Christ, so that we can hold onto things that could all disappear with just a breath. How backward is that?

Each person is bruised and broken.
Each soul has known pain.

You are not the only one.

But this can only be known when one has not only stepped outside of their comfort zone, but completely obliterated it as well. Where in the Bible does God call us to live comfortably, to love only when necessary, and to bend our knees in the face of His grace when it is only convenient?

Nowhere.

It is time to follow His example of unconditional love and start living our lives as the true BODY of Christ. It is time to bend our knees in the face of His grace and extend it to those who have never known the meaning of grace. It is time to accept our own brokenness, and love the least of these with the kind of love that can only come from a soul that has known the healing power of Jesus Christ.

Not tomorrow. Not next week. NOW.

I had the privilege of spending the weekend with a group of people who have a true passion to destroy their comfort zones in order that others would know His love, and It was an honor. I can’t wait to see where this ministry goes. We serve a BIG God with BIG love, who does BIG things, and we get to be used by Him.

That is the truest honor a human being can ever know.

All things for Jesus.

These are photos for day 102, 103 and 104, and then an extra because you can’t not include the hilarious group photo along with the serious one.

{Day 102}

It felt so good to go back to my second home for the weekend. This camp is my happy place. And this chapel is my favorite place about it–just a little white church in the middle of nowhere, but a place that has known the joy of thousands of hearts rejoicing in Him.

{Day 103}

These are two of the sweetest and most welcoming girls I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. They instantly welcomed me and by the end of the weekend it felt as if we had been friends for years.

{Day 104}

A fantastic group of Jesus lovin’ people.

And of course, the silly photo… Featuring Ryan and Shelly’s epic pose in the corner: