You Are Awesome!!

My youngest daughter Elizabeth LOVES her four sisters. She calls them "the guys", and they are pretty much the center of her world.  A couple of months ago my doorbell rang, and Elizabeth and her sister Cia came running to see who was there. When the gentleman said hello to Elizabeth, she grabbed Cia around the neck in a hug and said, "These are the guys - they're awesome!!"

It made me laugh, but it also made me think about how God wants us to relate to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. It made my heart so happy to see that simple, public show of love and affection toward her sisters. I can only imagine how God desires the same from us. The Word is full of admonitions to love one another fervently and genuinely - even through our pitfalls and failures. Some of my favorites are John 13:35, 1 Peter 1:22, Romans 12:9a, and the book of 1 John.

We must be on guard not to conform to a culture that seems to have lost all sense of loyalty and so easily abandons relationships. As with all sibling groups, believers will have their differences, and at times even hurt each other with our words and actions, just as my children sometimes do. It is in these moments we must not only have the faith of a little child, but also the love of a little child. They forgive so quickly. They will look past the offense and focus on the importance of the relationship in their lives.Even in extreme circumstances, when relationships have to be redefined to protect them, they will never stop loving you.

If there has ever been a time to stand as one in the Body of Christ, it is now. No matter our differences, we must look past offenses and love each other like never before. What an incredible light it is to the world, as well as an powerful source of strength to each other, when we choose to love each other like God loves us - with unconditional, reckless abandon!

What do I think about you? I think it's important to God that I treat you with the honor and respect due a child of the King. I believe that even if you are struggling, you want to do the right thing, and that God will help you overcome every obstacle to be who He has called you to be. I think you need to know God's not mad at you, and that you are the apple of His eye and the beating of His heart. I will stand with you, and if I have to, I will hold you up until you can stand on your own again. And when I'm talking to others about you I won't put you down, but I'll be like my little Elizabeth and say something like, "Oh yeah, that person over there - that's my family, and they're awesome!!"