A child's love

 There has been something on my heart lately and I want to share it with all of you. It is the concept of compassion. I know it is hard to love everyone, especially when someone does not make the best of choices but we are called to have compassion and love others.

If we do not love those who need God the most, then who will? I actually am going to make this post a little different, I have too many song lyrics to choose from and so it will be mostly those and some of my thoughts. Sometimes someone has already put my thoughts into a song and phrased way better than I ever could.

• "Jesus, friend of sinners, the one who's writing in the sand, Make the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands, Help us to remember we are all the least of thieves, Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees, No one knows what we're for only against when we judge the wounded, What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like You did, Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, Open our eyes to world at the end of our pointing fingers, Let our hearts be led by mercy, Help us reach with open hearts and open doors, Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks yours"                               - "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" by Casting Crowns

• "You took me in, With no questions, and no conditions, When I was a sinner, running from Your grace, You called me friend, You called me friend, There are no outsiders to Your love, We are all welcome, there's grace enough"                                                     - "No Outsiders" by Rend Collective

• "Well, everyone needs compassion, A love that's never failing, But let mercy fall on me, Well everyone needs forgiveness, The kindness of a Savior, The hope of nations"                    - "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong

• "Where you go, I'll go, Where you stay, I'll stay, When you move, I'll move, I will follow you, Who you love, I'll love, How you serve I'll serve, If this life I lose, I will follow you, I will follow you"           - "I Will Follow" by Chris Tomlin

• "Jesus paid much too high a price, For us to pick and choose who should come, And we are the body of Christ"                                                      - "If We are the Body" by Casting Crowns

• "People killin' people dyin', Children hurtin', I hear them cryin', Can you practice what you preachin'?, Would you turn the other cheek again?, Mama, mama, mama, tell us what the hell is goin' on, Can't we all just get along?, Father, father, father help us, Send some guidance from above, 'Cause people got me, got me, Questioning, (Where's the love)"                                             - "Where is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas

Okay before you think I'm crazy, I know the last one is not a Christian song and may seem out of my normal choices but I do not need a Christian song to get my point across and I think it fits well with my thoughts. 

All of these songs, plus so much more, have one theme: LOVE. I am heartbroken for this world, especially lately. There have been so many events that have happened, and will continue to happen because from the beginning we were all sinners. With that being said, I am amazed at how many people do not see everyone as a person. Yes we all make mistakes, we all make decisions we are not proud of, and some people choose to make huge decisions that harm others. Now, I believe we all are subject to consequences and that is the price we pay. What is so wrong with still loving those people who made a choice that landed them in prison for life, or your neighbor who treated you wrong? No one is saying we have to like them, but we should be praying for those people and loving them. 

I have compassion on those teens who have a whole life ahead of them and now are behind bars for the rest of their lives and it doesn't have to be that extreme but I am using it as an example. I have made the mistake of reading comments (yeah, don't do that if you have any faith in humanity still) on news articles and see all the negative comments and horrible things people say. These people are still people, still a child of God and deserve love and grace. Does everyone have consequences? Of course! I am not saying we should just let it go and tell someone to not do that again without a consequence because we still have to learn, but think about that person along with any victims (if there are any) and have compassion on them. 

Everyone can receive the grace and love of God if they allow Him into their lives and as Christians we should be the people leading the pack showing God's grace to others and help them to see the love without them feeling judged. I could write a book on lessons we can learn from children, but one of them is watching kids interact with other children. Do they ask 20 questions and then decide to play together if worthy and holy enough? No! Kids just naturally gravitate to each other and play, they do not care whether that other child has made a wrong choice in their short lifetime or where they come from. They talk to each other, laugh, play, and make new friends. 

God is the ultimate judge, not us (thank goodness), so let's show Christ's love to everyone and leaving the judging up to Him. 

Matthew 18:2-3 New Revised Standard Version: "He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'"