The pastor at church last week was talking about the church’s core values. Each week since the beginning of the year they have studied one: generosity, hospitality, forgiveness, and last week, risk taking. The conclusion came to something along the lines of this…God calls us to love, and loving can be tough. For some loving looks like being generous, or hospitable, for some it’s forgiving, for some it’s being vulnerable. Loving like God loves means sacrifice because that is what he did for us. It means coming out of our comfort zone, giving up certain things, taking risks, doing something we don’t like to do. We do it because we are compelled by Christ (2 Cor. 5:14) and we love with joy because of Christ.
Coming to Atlanta was a step out of my comfort zone. Thailand will be an even bigger step. But I take these steps because I love the Lord, and I want to bring him glory. I take these risks so that he may be worshiped not only by our community of believers or the believers in our nation, but so that he may be worshiped and receive all the glory from people all over the earth.
The book Crazy Love by Francis Chan builds on this idea of living a life completely for Christ. Chan asks a convicting question to help us check our life, “What are you doing right now that requires faith?”
Very good Julia. I have been hearing and reading the drum roll for awhile and know that God is pushing me to get out of my "comfort zone". It's great to see how God is molding you into the image of His Son. Praise God! I continue to remember you in prayer and am holding on to the rope from this end.
ReplyDelete