Tag: Jesus


Jul
2018

What Happened to the Golden Rule?

categories: Faith, Peace & Love

I’m sure while growing up all kids were often told to follow the Golden Rule, especially in school. This reminder normally occurred after one child had been mean to another child and had gotten caught. It was basically a reminder to be kind to one another. However, after hearing this over and over again, most children eventually learned to tune the teacher out and thought of the Golden Rule as another annoying school rule that only served to stop them from having fun. Its importance was not grasped by our young minds, becoming something we could all recite, but not something we practiced daily. (I mean, you have been to school, right? Not the nicest place at times.)

That was then…this is now.

But as adults, you would think that we would have this thing mastered. We would understand that we should treat others the way that we would want to be treated. I mean, the “Golden Rule” is not really some made up rule. It’s so much more than that. It is a guiding principal given by Jesus, yes Jesus, as to how we should treat one another. And it makes perfectly good sense. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all treated other people exactly how we wished they would treat us?

Some days I just want to hide in my house and not deal with other people. I get tired of dealing with rude customer service, people swerving in and out of traffic and blowing horns, people pushing past you without saying “Excuse Me.”  My list could go on and on. I’m not asking for everyone to behave like angels, but what happened to common courtesy and simple manners?

But I can’t stay hidden in my house just to avoid some rude folks, and Jesus wouldn’t want me to do that either. How can I be a light for Him, if I am hiding from the very people He wants me to shine His light on?

No, I’m not perfect (in case you thought that I thought I was), and I am writing this even for myself to remember that while I’m out and about and interacting with others, that it would be wise to remember Jesus’ urging that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Unfortunately, we can’t control the actions of others, but we can control what we do and say and how we react to how others treat us. It won’t be easy, but I feel like if more of us tried to show love everywhere we went, to be intentional with it, that we might be surprised by the reactions we get from others. (more…)


Nov
2017

We Are Called to Love

categories: Faith, Peace & Love

It’s November already.

Wow.

Where has the time gone?

I remember the beginning of this year and the promises that I made to myself to make this year my best year yet. I was determined to be #unbothered by life and people, to focus on setting goals and achieving them, and to change things in my life that were no longer working for my good. I am happy to say that while I may have lost my cool a few times (or many), I didn’t reach all of my goals that I set, and I haven’t made every change that I wanted to make, my life has improved drastically by what I have accomplished thus far.

Spend more time in the presence of God. Check!

Lose weight. Check!

Transfer to a new school. Check!

Reduce my debt. Check!

These were just some of my goals that I made and achieved, and my life has definitely been much more fulfilling. I must say that I am quite proud of myself. When I do my check-ins with my accountability partner, I get a certain sense of satisfaction when I realize all that I’ve done to improve my life and my state of mind.

However, lately something has been missing. There’s been this empty space that’s been longing to be fulfilled. While I’m not a selfish or self-centered person (although we all are in some way), I didn’t feel like I was doing all I needed to do in the area of service. My heart has always gone out for other people (I mean, I am a teacher), but I have not been consistent with going that extra mile to help others.

Lately, I’ve felt the need more to do more to help others especially when I consider how I can have a bigger impact on the lives of my children. How do I really get them to love and to appreciate and to be grateful for their lives and all of the blessings they have?

How do I get them to understand that they should give more than they take in this world?

What is the legacy that I want to leave behind that my children can take up and continue even when I am gone?

That’s when I decided enough was enough. The end of this year would be the beginning of my journey in purposeful serving. In other words, I would be purposely seeking opportunities to be a blessing to others. Some things that I have done thus far:

  1. Gotten more involved in my Raktivist (Random Acts of Kindness Activist) community on Facebook, getting inspired by all of the wonderful, beautiful things other people are doing to serve others selflessly. These people have hearts so big that I don’t know how their chests can contain them.
  2. I’ve joined a campaign this month called Neighborly November. Instead of just doing 30 days of Gratefulness in which most people document 30 things for which they are grateful, we are challenged to put action with our gratitude. Every day I must find a way not to just speak of my gratitude but to actually live it out. (Created by Carrie Wisehart)
  3. I took my younger son (6 years old) to my school’s sorting of the items from our Harvest Drive. We had an enjoyable time while running food from the center of the gym floor to the designated areas around the room. More than 100 families were able to receive food just in time for the beginning of the holidays because of this Harvest Drive. I felt so fulfilled just watching all of the volunteers running back and forth cheerfully sorting food even after a long day of school and work.
  4. I started working on a community service project with my team at work so we can get our students involved in serving others while learning the concept of giving without expecting to receive something in return (more to come on this in future posts).

While it’s easy to live in our bubbles and focus on just our own problems and needs, God has called us to love and serve one another, to use our gifts and talents to be a blessing to others and that’s just what I want to do. I want to do it and teach my children and my students the same thing. I pray that my children and my students will learn to love helping others, not because they will be rewarded, but because it feels good to do so, that they become intrinsically motivated to do what’s right.

I write this post not because I want any accolades or praise but to hold myself accountable. If I tell everyone what I am going to do, I know that people will be checking to see if I’m doing what I said I will do even on those days when I don’t feel like it and just want to focus on self.

Maybe I can motivate others to do the same.

Maybe I can start a small movement.

Maybe I can open more hearts to the love that God has called us all to show.

Stay tuned for more…