What I am about to say might seem radical to you, maybe even ridiculous, but you can changed the world. It's not just wishful thinking; but a call to every follower of Jesus to change the world. Christ's death and resurrection means that followers of Jesus are EMPOWERED to join God in his plan to redeem this broken world. They are called & empowered to live an earth shaking life- that is a life like Jesus.
Jesus said, "As my father has sent me, I am sending you. "If you're going to answer the call, you must get ready to get messy! Jesus was sent to get messy. He directly involved himself in this world's brokenness. He cared for the broken, the sick, and the poor. He came to get emotionally messy; relationally messy, socially message, & physically messy. Your life is God breathe so that you can get messy. In John 20:22 reads; And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. You've been empowered by the Spirit to peel back the layers of people lives so that you can get involved in their messy lives. You will do what Jesus did when you look beyond the facade & the superficiality of people's lives to see that they need Jesus. You can turn the world upside down for Christ, if you are willing to get messy! You will be willing to get MESSY when you love people as Jesus has loved!
Read what Jesus said in Matt. 5:43-48: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. You are capable in Christ of loving better than you think you could, & loving longer than you think you would. We go wrong in thinking that loving people don't suppose to hurt!
How many of you have learned that "LOVE HURTS." How many of you know that it's painful loving difficult people. You have the capacity to love people who are culturally, relationally, socially, ethnically, racially different than you. God has empowered you to widen your love circle. The wider your love circle, the greater the impact you will make for eternity. That's why we can't talk about love without talking about forgiveness! Forgiveness is to love what works is to faith. When you walk in the spirit of forgiveness, you can love better, & longer. Jesus taught us through Peter's question about forgiveness, that forgiven people forgive! You see, forgiveness resets the clock for relationships! It allows you to restore broken relationship to its proper place.
When you love as He has loved, then you will Identify with the brokenness of others! God became a man and live among men so that he could identify with our brokenness. He subjected himself to the temptation & struggles of this world to identify with us. When he identified with our brokenness, he did something about it- He died on a cross! God's plan is to communicate hope to a broken world. A world that is wounded & critically ill; a world that has been marred by sin! God has empowered believers to communicate hope to broken people; they are family members; friends, co-workers, bosses, team members; they are people from every walk of life-to include you.
Before you can truly identify with the brokenness of others, you must to identify with your own. When you get in touch with your brokenness, you can relate to someone else brokenness. When you are able to express yourself through your pain, you will hear the cries of those who need you. You see, identifying with the brokenness of others is what allows you to communicate God's love & hope.
