Words and Actions

Several years ago, after my mother died, I was going through her sewing table – it’s like a desk with the sewing machine folded up inside.  In one of the drawers I found a note written by me as a child.  It said “we the undersigned agree to take care of the dog” and it’s signed by my brother and myself.  This absolutely cracked me up.  I don’t remember neither writing the note nor which dog I was referring to, but I’m guessing it would be Sam.  But obviously my brother and I wanted this dog very much.  Now as grown and being a parent, I know when getting a family pet, the children can promise to take care of it, but 9 times out of 10 it’s the parent’s responsibility – including vet bills, pet food and pet toys. Words and Actions.

In the same token as my note, it’s also just as easy to promise God all kinds of things when in a moment of distress.  “If you will help me with (insert issue) I promise Lord I will do (insert promise.)  I know I’ve done it many times over my lifetime.  Sometimes I followed through, most times – just like our New Year Resolutions they fall flat.

Living a Christ centered life is not always easy.  Christ challenges us to dig deeper, love stronger, and serve more.  This can be especially a challenge when we know others are watching us. We want to display a perfect relationship with the Father, but in our humanist, we struggle.  And trust me, I have struggled.  In doing so, I have found it interesting when the non-believer sees me failing and points it out “I thought you were so good, and yet you do this.”  My usual response is, “I am human, I make mistakes, and if I didn’t that would mean I’m in heaven.  Jesus did not come for the saved but for the sinner – which is all of us.”  I only had to say this a couple of times to my family before they stopped pointing out each of my sins.  Their words did make me very aware that they were watching.  Words and Actions

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But all is not lost – we just need to remember Jesus’ two commandments – to love the Father above all others and love our neighbor as ourselves.  In that he never said we needed to be perfect, he knows of our human nature – he is very aware of our failings.  And that is why these two commandments are so important.  Loving the Father comes with hope, for when we fall, we must get back up, brush off our knees and reaffirm our love for the Lord and accept his love and mercy for us – even when we don’t feel we deserve it.  And in doing this we are putting our words into action, by loving ourselves and our neighbors, for love cannot be kept to ourselves – it must be shared with others.