I woke up this morning thinking about LOVE in a world that seems to be making a hard turn toward HATE. Without love and stirred to hate now more than ever before, the world has responded by “CHASING COMFORT” to escape life’s pain.
Try to guess the top three items sold in American supermarkets during the peak pandemic weeks and then later during the world’s outcry after the senseless murder of George Floyd. Have you got it? OK, here is the answer…
PIZZA, ICE CREAM, AND AVOCADOS!
But the comfort chase does not stop with food.
Our screens light up all day every day with pitches aiming to have us succumb to the lie that we should have EVERYTHING.
The jump is surprisingly short from avocados to wanting more and more COMFORT in the things we buy and what we do. It is hardly a surprise that some Christians want to have an “EVERYTHING FAITH” that showcases mastery of their “Christian Everything List.” From memorizing the Bible to serving people in need. Tithing to fellowship. Self-control to self-sacrifice ensconced in a façade’s false promise of security.
There is one word that should be on the Christian Everything List that is often overlooked or omitted—LOVE.
The road to everything starts and ends with love. Love for God. Love for others.
Maybe you have met someone who is crafting an “everything faith” but lives with love conspicuously absent. I have. If you have, too, that’s God reminding us to run from any thought of being an everything Christian.
What about love?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
I ask God to help me reject hate and avoid chasing things.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What are you chasing? What about LOVE?
“I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned—but if I have no love, this does me no good.” 1 Corinthians 13:3
