I love Jesus. And loving Jesus means loving His people. Even the unlovable ones (like me on some days!).
I find that some of the hardest for me to love and show grace to, though, are His children. The ones who claim His Name as their own, and yet all too often, seem to behave more like the leaders in their church or the "church" as a whole, rather than like Him. I don't think they are "bad", or intentionally ignoring His command to love Him and take on the character of the Father. I think it is just easy to look to those around us and model our words and behaviors on those we see and are led by, rather than the One we can't tangibly see, and Who isn't sitting with us in our small group coffee dates.
A blogger whom I truly enjoy, and find to be a devoted follower of Christ, posted something today about some college girls. I am sure she intended it to be a positive thing, when she described them as "solid and quality girls". Yet it absolutely tore through my spirit like a knife. This is exactly the youth group mentality that is filling our churches and raising up generation after generation of pharisees. The girls who wear one pieces and long skirts, and then whisper behind their hands at the new girl who catches the boys attention. The kids who are praised for their church attendance and scripture memorization (good things!) yet don't have any true revelation of the Word in their own life. Kids who are not drawing others to them, but instead are creating an invisible bubble of us vs. them.
My prayer is that each of us who knows Jesus will make the choice, day in and day out, to show our kids Jesus in our actions, in our faith and in our words. Not just quoting the scriptures, but really being changed by them. And that we will take our faith to a level beyond just telling our kids how to dress, and instead teach them how to love. Once they get that, the rest is second nature. The nature of The Father, Who will fill them with His knowledge when they choose to receive and walk in His love.
