You drive by her house everyday. Its the one on the corner that hasn’t been painted in years, the front porch steps are broken and her children play on the other side of the broken fence.
You walk past him every morning to pay for your gas. His cup is always empty and his dirty hand is always outstretched.
You see the mom in the grocery store, 3 kids screaming in the back of a cart. You see the lines of a hard life on her face, as she tries to hold back the tears.
You see them every day. You try to look away, because after all you dont want to make them feel uncomfortable (atleast that is what you tell yourself). You cross by them and never speak a word.
Instead of wondering what brought them to that point; Instead of judging who they are before you’ve even learned their name; Instead of deciding their worth, do you ever wonder if they know your Savior? The Savior that you keep tucked safely in your deserving heart?
We wonder why we cant reach the unreachable. We wonder why “Everyone” doesnt come to understand that Christ loves them, yet we ourselves many times make the conscience choice to not share his Love to the unloveable. We prevent them from experience the joy and non judgement of a amazing savior.
The only thing that has made our lives different from theirs is Grace- And had someone not shared that Grace with us, are we really so lofty to believe that we couldnt possibly be in the same position they are at this exact moment?
It could all start with a gallon of paint, a hammer and and a cup of coffee on lonely morning. It all starts with us showing Mercy and love to those who daily have to feel the shame of their existence.
It all starts with Love.
Kindness builds the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God
Are you subconsciously deciding who deserves a touch of love from God?
Do you hear them?
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Heather, I think you’ve put it beautifully. A very convicting post indeed! Sometimes it’s an attitude that creeps in there and you don’t even realize it’s there and what it is. Great reminder that grace extended to someone can start with something oh so small.
Thank you!
Good word, Heather. Thanks for sharing that. I really like that song, too. Thanks for sharing the video.
I have heard this song on the radio, and because of children who get louder when you turn the radio up ;), never heard it all the way through. My eyes are filled with tears. Part of my post this morning, totally different subject, but it said this:
“…I became even more angry when I began reading how “Christians†were sending death threats, and saying 4 letter words and very “non-Christian†things to him. Here I must say to them, shame on you! Jesus said to be angry and sin not. He also said if you have hated, you have already committed murder in your heart. Through Salvation we are born again, a new DNA, a new life. You are saved by a grace that you refuse to extend to them? How can you blame a sinner for having a sin nature?…”
I question often if I am doing enough to show Christ’s love, and if even in the midst of persecution I can say “Father forgive them” as Jesus did. Thanks so much for these words! You are a poet, and don’t know it. ( 🙂 ) I honestly thought I was reading the lyrics to a song!
Thanks for this reminder Heather– how gripping the video was paired with your words. It is so easy as Christians to insulate ourselves from the pain and trouble that others feel, relying on “someone else” to do it for us. And yet, we have the answer they are searching for! May we all have the courage to offer it to anyone God places in our path.
I have only just discovered your site today and just want to say thanks for such a great entry. We do often need to be reminded that by not seeing them or taking the time to hear them we are choosing to not share God’s love with them……..
This is the first I had heard this song. Very powerful words. Thank you for sharing it.
The church is to be “a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints”
Heather, this is probably our (hubby and I) most favorite song. We listen to it often. I have always thought of it the way you wrote about, until this past week. I gave my life story to 30 teenage girls last week. The next night, as hubby and I were listening to these lyrics in the silence of our car date, I wept..almost sobbed. He almost did, too. These lyrics aren’t just about that other girl…that other person…it was about me. It described me…then… And it described more than a handful of the girls I shared my heart with last week. You are right. Who are we to do anything but extend grace, love, mercy from Jesus to each other, friend or foe? How quickly we forget where we were and how we got to where we are! And how often we forget the shoes another stands in.
Oh, Lord, have mercy on all of us and thank you for your grace and love!
Thanks for sharing this song and such thought-provoking questions.
In His Awe,
Elisa
Powerful song and video. NO idea who the group is, can you tell me??
CJJ ~ I thought I’d just share that the group is Casting Crowns. 🙂
Heather ~ A thought provoking post as usual. How dare I be so lofty as to determine who deserves Christ and who doesn’t. May I be one who sees the need for a cup of coffee, a gallon of paint, or another means to help someone else. I thank the Lord that I attend a church that desires to offer those “little things” to those who many deem as undeserving. I know I’m guilty of looking away or not being the hand of Christ in the midst of another’s life. Oh, how I long to be more sensitive to His leading. (I love the song you shared. Very fitting.)
OOOO This song hit me like a ton of bricks several months ago – after hearing it the first time and watching that video it would NOT leave me!! I like your perspective on this
I won’t try to summarize my thoughts and feelings on this song (because I’m not good at being brief) but if you would like to read what I posted a couple of months ago I’ve put in the link to that specific post.
“It all starts with us showing Mercy and love to those who daily have to feel the shame of their existence. ”
That is the very picture of misery and despair – feeling the shame of one’s own existence – that’s a very powerful statement
[…] Today I would like to share a post I read yesterday. Very poetic, and a truth we need to ever be reminded of often. Although I was raised in church, my life has not always been easy. If not for the love of others, I would not be who I am today. When I found the church I attend now, I was a single mom. No one knew if I was anybody important, that I was raised in church, or if I had never been in church at all. All that I was, was a single young woman with a baby in her arms. I quickly found out that I was the only one who cared about the Scarlet Letter I felt I carried. This church was different. […]
wonderful post… never heard the song before but the lines “she finds her self another 2 years older and 3 more steps behind..” that was me a few years ago… you’ve got me sobbing what a touching post.
Thank you so much for this convicting post. I am guilty of this myself. Most of the time when I do this it is because I don’t know what to say. I am going to work on this!! Food for thought definitely.
God bless, Betty-Jo