from a riven place
Musings from my Perth hotel lobby: I started my day with an article in Relevant Magazine called "The Most Damaging Attitudes in our Churches". It's about a few different things - one being how to love others well without first analyzing or correcting them - behaviors, choices, thought-processes - or as Bob Goff puts it "loving without agenda". We have the freedom to do this because it's not up to us as people to draw people to Jesus - he draws people unto himself. So, I can let go of the reins. I can walk in freedom, knowing the work is done. Life is a whole lot more joyous without the disappointment of failure in this area. I simply need to believe that loving the person in front of me is my call, and with the strength of the Holy Spirit, I engage with the removal of my “ability”-covering - like taking off a cloak of expectation to perform well or make something happen in my own strength when it was never imparted to me to do so in the first place. Crea