Can you handle a challenge?

I have a challenge for you but, know it is also a challenge for me.  First some questions and thoughts to contemplate.  Then the challenge. 

What should be our highest goal in life and how do we attain it?  I am sure we could hear many thoughts on this topic.  Depending on our age the answer may vary greatly.  I remember a few decades ago I thought a great deal about loving and protecting my family.  I wanted them to live comfortably and to pursue their dreams.  There were certainly many challenges along the way.  Sometimes life for us was just great and sometimes the challenges were unbelievable.  Challenges seem to put the things of life in a truer perspective. Some of our challenges were financial, some were life and death challenges.  Some were clearly spiritual. 

In our culture today it seems like the smallest challenges to people are treated as life and death challenges.  The incredible expressions of shock and drama do little to help anyone with whatever the slightest problem may be.  In fact, the shock and drama do not seem to help in any way at all.  They actually seem to generate more shock and drama. 

Don’t go away.  I am not done setting the stage yet for the challenge.  😊

This crude image is an attempt to communicate an idea.  Consider a person who is all about themselves and what they want.  This is the yellow circle.  But I would say that most people at least progress to the blue circle.  This circle represents people who at least consider the thoughts and feelings of those who are important to them and at least interact with that group fairly well.  This is likely some family members and their best buds.  In the right grouping this interchange helps them grow into more of a mature and caring person.  The green circle represents a person who actually sees themselves as a small part of a bigger world, a world that matters.  They in fact treat everyone with respect because they know everyone matters.  This includes the poor.  It includes others who may have different and maybe even difficult opinions or beliefs.  It includes everyone.

You don’t see the red color in this image.  Red represents the challenges and pain of this world.  The entire background could be red and is for some people.  The focus for those people is entirely on the red and hence they often pull back into the yellow circle.  This image has a white background because those who meet any upcoming challenge look for the good in life and in people.  We want to take a positive approach.

They recognize that God’s creation including all human beings walking this earth were made good.  We all came from the womb with a pure and beautiful spirit.  Jesus gave us two simple commandments to keep those spirits pure and beautiful.  Number one, Love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength.  Number two, Love our neighbor as ourselves.

Did I say, “Simple commandments?”  Did you notice that the first word of both commandments is “Love?”

How do we do that with the world screaming drama and pain at us non-stop?  Have you ever been accosted by someone with an adversarial and dramatic attitude?  Difficult, right?  Especially if it is someone you don’t like or trust.  What now?  Remember the bands that said, “What would Jesus do?”  Bring those back I say.   

Here comes the challenge! 

In everything we do continually have Love in our hearts and actions.  In every adversity stop for a moment and think Love!  Identify a new habit you could adopt to help you think Love in every encounter with every person no matter the circumstances.  This could include starting your day with a prayer that speaks love to you.  It could include putting sticky notes around that remind you to Love first.  This could be to find one of those “What would Jesus do?” bands and wearing it all of the time.  Every day as a reminder read, (1 Corinthians 13:4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  Define what will work for you and initiate that action daily.

Let us all take it to heart to always Love first.  I accept the challenge.  How about you? 

Let us strive to Shine Like the Son.  God bless you.