"'Ye must distinguish.  The action of Pity will live forever:  but the passion of Pity will not.  The passion of Pity, the Pity we merely suffer, the ache that draws men to concede what should not be conceded and to flatter when they should speak truth, the pity that has cheated many a woman out of her virginity and many a statesman out of his honesty -- that will die.  It was used as a weapon by bad men against good ones: their weapon will be broken.'

"'And what is the other kind -- the action?'

"'It's a weapon on the other side.  It leaps quicker than light from the highest place to the lowest to bring healing and joy, whatever the cost to itself.  It changes darkness into light and evil into good.  But it will not, at the cunning tears of Hell, impose on good the tyranny of evil.  Every disease that submits to a cure shall be cured:  but we will not call blue yellow to please those who insist on still having jaundice, nor make a midden of the world's garden for the sake of some who cannot abide the smell of the roses.'"

-- C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

God's love should - and does - motivate believers to act compassionately, "bringing healing and joy...[changing] darkness into light and evil into good."  However, in our desire to show God's love and goodness to a hurting world, we must be careful not to be easily manipulated.  There are those with wrong intentions who will use a call for "compassion" as a means to push us to ACT in a way that is not ultimately good.  Pray, pray for wisdom.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." -- James 1:5

"There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself...as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist!  There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.  Man!  Ye see it in smaller matters.  Did ye never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them?  Or an organizer of charities that had lost all love for the poor?  It is the subtlest of all the snares. . .

"Every poet and musician and artist, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells, to love of the telling till, down in Deep Hell, they cannot be interested in God at all but only in what they say about Him...They sink lower -- become interested in their own personalities and then in nothing but their own reputations."  -- C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Is the object of my love God?  Or the study of God?

Be kind to everyone; Hold nothing against anyone.

From my 3rd grader's study on Kindness today:

"Anyone who serves the Lord must not fight.  Instead, he must be kind to everyone.  He must be able to teach.  He must not hold anything against anyone." -- 2 Timothy 2:24

Pastor Jeff Shipman of Columbia Crossroads Church has repeatedly said something to the effect of,  "This Christianity stuff is all well and good until you get around people."  Funny - but isn't it true?  Reading about love in the Bible is so uplifting and positive and inspiring...until you have a painful conflict and actually have to live it out!  God's definition of love feels impossible to live up to -- and it is!  We are a fallen people, incapable of living up to God's standard.  Romans 3:23 reads, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

Trying to live out God's perfect love in a fallen world -- when friends hurl insults & profanity, when people accuse and criticize, when you feel terribly misunderstood -- IS impossible.  But Jesus gives us this hope:  "What is impossible with people is possible with God." -- Luke 18:27

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." -- John 15:4

If I want to serve the Lord, I must love everyone and hold nothing against anyone.  If I want to love in such a way, I *must* remain in Christ.  HE is the source of fruit in my life.  May HE be glorified.

The Renewing of My Mind

Today I was reminded of Romans 12:2 -- "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."

And that is exactly why I started this blog -- to be a journal and a motivation for staying focused on what is true and good.  I have felt torn lately, between worldly desires and those of God.  My hope is that as I spend more time contemplating Him, I will have more discernment -- that it will be more clear to me how I should live and think day by day.  And discernment is something I especially need now that I'm a mommy!