Love is a gracious and patient teacher

Godly love is impartial. By its very nature it is unearned. God lavished it upon me while I was still a sinner and His enemy. The expectation is that in having received such love I would now graciously extend the same to others. I'm still learning how to do this and I find myself regularly falling into the trap this world offers of loving only those who can return it to me. When falling short of a Godly standard I express this self-seeking "love" in many ways: Giving gifts to those who can give gifts in return, being kind to those who are kind to me, blessing those who bless me...

There was a woman in a recent class of mine who I found to be quite condescending. She displayed a "know-it-all" attitude at times and had a terrible sense of timing in asking questions. She was also very awkward in expressing certain personal details about her life. So how did I respond to her? I condescended in return (she deserved it), I ignored her knowledge (I'm much smarter), I scorned her questions (they were so obvious), and I laughed at her awkwardness (she shouldn't be talking of such things). In all these instances, she proved herself to be more righteous than I.

All of this has left me in a pensive state, considering how best to honor my Lord and my God. I keep coming back to three truths that prove the greatness of Jesus' love for me.

1) The greater the giver of love, the greater the love.

2) The less deserving the recipient of love, the greater the love.

3) The greater the expression of love, the greater the love.

I must extrapolate that the greatest expression of love must come from a completely perfect benefactor, received by a completely imperfect beneficiary, and expressed in a completely excellent manner. God is perfect love. Apart from Him there is nothing in me that is good. He could express His love for me in no greater way than to die in my place on the cross.

I was able to humble myself to the point of approaching the young lady and asking her forgiveness for my lack of love, but the bad taste from my conduct is still in my mouth. Thankfully, God's grace has given me permission and time to learn. The power of His patience is unsurpassed and not dependent on the excellence of my conduct. Jesus just keeps loving me, showering me with His grace, expressing it through his kindness. There is no better teacher.

Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue

I love how the bible uses language from the earth to describe deep spiritual truths. We've lost a lot of understand as many of us no longer work outside but consider the below excerpts from the Proverbs 18:

Proverb 18:
"4 The words of a man's mouth are deep waters;
    the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook."

"21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
    and those who love it will eat its fruits."

A "bubbling brook" sustains life in a desolate land just as loving words can water a parched soul. This "water" also helps to grow the fruit of the soul. Hateful words grow bitter fruit and loving words grow sweet fruit. Thus, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, but the corollary is also true: From the desire of the heart the ear receives.

Police brutality in the age of Michael Brown and Eric Garner

"Police brutality" has obviously been in the news quite a bit as of late. I put it in quotes as there are times when brutality (or extreme force) is necessary (arguably Michael Brown) and other times when it is not (Eric Garner). In the case of Garner, he had been hassled by the police dozens of times mostly about selling "loosies", or individual cigarettes, in a heavily regulated and taxed market that made the cost of a pack of cigarettes four times more than in bordering states and allowed for a thriving black market. My point is that, when you make a law for the police to enforce, it must be one that is worthy of being backed up by deadly force. After all, the law concerns itself with justice; not mercy. In no conceivable instance should Garner have been judged before death's door by the law for selling a legal product at a discounted rate. So next time you hear it celebrated that we are a "nation of laws" it should grieve your hearts. The law makes no man good and serves only to punish those who break it. How about us Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Libertarians come together to start rolling back the tidal wave of tiny, murderous laws and regulations that make at least 75% of us guilty of unknowingly committing at least one felony in our lives? No one should have to die for selling cigarettes.