If Jesus came for the sinners, why are we all trying so hard to change? He loves us as we are, and yet, we are all desperately trying to do better, be better. It doesn't make any sense and it's killing me!
God calls me to be like Him. To love others, to love myself, so I guess I pretty much need to start there. What does it look like to love myself? It looks like me being kind. It looks like me being aware of when I'm hurting, when I'm stressed, and when I'm getting frazzeled being repair. I need to slow down and accept that I'm not one of those people who can go, go, go. Even though I want to be. I do things a little more slowly, and that's okay. I also go out of my way to help people, and that's okay too. It doesn't make me better or worse than anyone else, just lovable, for me and anyone else practicing the Christian faith.
I think what Jesus was looking for in the sinners was their dedication to him. See, they knew how far they had fallen. They were willing to get back up and to keep plugging along. They had experienced restoration in their lives and they wanted to show it to the world. We should be like this. We can be like that.
He is calling us into a world that doesn't know they are lovable. My mission is to show the world how lovable they are, and why? Why does it matter if we know, or they know, how truly loved they are and can be? Because that type of love is transforming. It changes us from the inside out. When I begin to realize that God accepts and loves me precisely as I am, AND that He wants me to love me in the same way! I'm changed. I'm awed. I'm incredibly humbled because to me, I see nothing special in myself, and that's okay. I can see God reflected in me, I can see the love and growth He has planted there, instead of the weeds that were strangling out any form of life that used to live there. I've been through a lot in the last 26 years and I can honestly say I'm stronger today than I ever was back then. I've learned a lot and grown so much over the past few years and I am so thankful that God continues loving me. Even when I haven't always been the person I should have been or could have been. He was waiting, in grace, for me to return to Him. No pressure, just loving arms open wide. I want to be that way to the world also. A symbol of God's grace and loving presence. That is what it's all about, after all.
But, why love? What is so special about love and the absence of hate? What is so transforming about coming to the world, as Jesus did, and dining with the sinners? Is it because in a world that tells you everything is acceptable, if you really go "too far," at some point they stop accepting you? If you start drinking in college, everyone loves you. They love being around you, partying with you, hanging out with you, getting drunk with you. But what happens when they've forgotten your name, you can't pay your bills, and the only person you want to blame is staring at you through the mirror? Then, there's Jesus. There's God. There is someone telling you that everything will be okay. That He still loves you. That He never grew tired of you or too weary to carry your load. Just open you arms and accept Him and that's all He's asking you to do. The rest is really up to Him, to change you from the inside out as He begins loving you and expressing how deeply and truly special you are to Him. It's a wonderful thing and a beautiful way to live your life.
Matthew 9:12 "On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13) But go and learn what this means" 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
