As we shift from discovering the Power of Your Story to a new series in which we populate our stories with love, we want to be intentional about allowing our imaginations to be challenged and stretched as to what love requires of us. I think we all have comfortable ways of expressing love. And that's great! But we also want to open ourselves to the ways love might be calling us deeper into the life of God.
So we're exploring Bob Goff's teachings about the action that love takes in the world: Love Does. Love is risky, especially when it's new territory. But the more we practice "doing" love, the less scary it becomes--and the more life-giving.
So what's the first step? Bob tells a story about someone in his past who, when he was going through a confusing or troubling or difficult time, showed him through word and deed that, "I'm with you." Those three words can put skin on love like nothing else can. "I'm with you," helps others to see that we're willing to walk alongside whatever they are going through, that we enjoy and appreciate their presence in our own lives, and that we are able to give that gift to them because we have first received that gift ourselves.
That last point is probably the most profound. There has never been a time when God has not been with us, with you. Often He uses others to show us the truth of that promise. And now the invitation for us is to be the promise of God to someone else, to let them know that God is with them and we are, too.
So here's two ways to enter into this "with-ness" this week. First, recall someone from your life who has exemplified "I'm with you." Who has been there for you in times of need or despair? Reach out to them and simply say "thank you" for their presence, letting them know how much that meant to you. Second, who has God already placed in your life to whom you might come alongside them and say, "I'm with you"? Take a risk and reach out to let them know that you are there for them, praying for them, listening to them, and showing them love through whatever actions are appropriate for their situation.
May we be a community of people who are known for the ways we love, "not just in word and speech, but in truth and action" (1 John 3:18).
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