- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Why is always a good question to ask.
It brings clarity and understanding to a task. It also helps us maintain our focus and makes sure we are investing into the right things. This semester, I started to do this. Why, why, why. I went through every possible part of my life and asked the simple question, why? I breezed through most of them and then came to the most daunting one. Why am I becoming a teacher? I am two semesters away from graduating, most people would have asked this question by now. As I sat in my room looking at my ceiling, I asked the question again, why am I becoming a teacher. Well, I have always wanted to be a teacher. I used to line up my stuffed animals in my room and make fake tests, grading them, calculating the class average, and then distributing them back. I used to put my glasses down on the edge of my nose and talk in my best teacher voice. I used to teach my stuffed animals math, science, social studies, and English. But why. Why do I want to be a teacher?
Let all that we do be done in love, we read this constantly, but do we do this? It is not simply a suggestion. It is deeply rooted in the Bible, it is not just good advice, it is a truth, it is the good news. Because Jesus is perfect, His love does not relax. He has a firm grip on us that does not let go no matter how hard we try to escape. His grace and compassion flood our entire being, overwhelming us to the point where no matter how bad we mess up, God will always be there to pick us up. I think this is the main reason I want to be a teacher. I want to be more like Jesus. I just want to love. I want to love students, their families, and the faculty. I want to help pick up students when they mess up and get them back on track. I want my classroom to be a safe place. That no matter how bad their home life might be, they know that my classroom is a safe one. One where we can all share our dreams and goals, and be provided opportunities to succeed in them. Love is more about sacrifice and presence than anything. It's about supporting people's ideas no matter how silly they may seem. And if they fail, so what? I'd rather try and fail at something that matters rather than succeed at things that don't. It's about being there for them and picking them up when they fall, not saying I told you so. Faith isn't always about knowing all of the answers, no, it's something much more costly than that. Faith is about sacrifice and presence, it's about being there for people and making sacrifices in your own time to encourage, love, and support the people who need it most. The ones who are hurting and aching and just need to hear the words "Whatever you decide, I am with you." Perhaps this is why our world struggles to love because love has morphed into a word that only concerns yourself. Doing things to make yourself happy and ignoring others has become the mantra of the American society. In order to love we need to sacrifice ourselves, our time, our money, our convenience for others to show how much they mean to us, and to show them they are a life that is important and that deserves to be on this Earth.
The person that embodies this the most is my dearest friend Terrill. She is one of those people that will support you with her whole heart with all of the ridiculous ideas you can come up with. And if one of them fails she's still with you, she doesn't blame the failure on you and say I told you so. She encourages you to get back up and try again. She is a great source of confidence. She laughs with you, she cries with you. She is always present when you need her. I've learned so much about what friendship is through Terrill. It's not about always being right or obeying a list of rules, it's about making sacrifices to be there for a friend when they need you the most. I've learned that love isn't just thinking about doing something, love is actually going out and doing it, sacrificing, and being present.
We were not meant to live our lives separately from one another. Fully loving and fully living are not only synonymous but they are exactly the way Jesus invited us to live. One of the keys to the gospel is doing life with one another. This is regardless of how different they may seem then you, how far away their sins seem from yours, how annoying or unreceptive they seem. We are called to love. We are called to walk through the difficult and messy times together because guess what? God made both of us, He made us in His image, and we are called to love and encourage each other. He desires us to imitate Him rather than the world. He longs for us to follow His pattern. My problem is, is that I get caught up in monotonous tasks and forget the love. I maybe a door greeter every time I go to church, but if I am doing it out of obligation rather than love, I might as well not do it at all. He doesn't just call us to love in the areas of our life that are easy. We are called to love in everything because love conquers all. Christ's love broke through for us everywhere. There is never tension, nor anger or awkwardness. He never loved out of obligation. It's not enough just to love God, we will know the extent of our love for God by how well we love people.
In order to love others authentically, we need to be plugged into the source. We need to be plugged into the guy that loves unconditionally and without limits. In order for me to love others the way that the Lord has called me to do, I need to gain energy from the presence of the Lord. That is not just a suggestion. That is the absolutely only way you will be able to gather enough strength to love difficult people, people that seem so far away, and people who just seem to want to push your buttons. Many times I feel like I slam the door in these people's faces. You keep to yourself and I keep to mine. I don't want to deal with difficult people. I avoid awkward conversations and awkward eye contact and miss the whole stinkin' point. We were commanded to love each other no matter how hard or even impossible it may seem. Jesus lived on this Earth so it is not like he doesn't understand how hard it is to love difficult people. He wept, He felt deeply. He didn't avoid them he ran to them. The Bible isn't full of Jesus running away from awkward eye contact, it's about meeting people right where they are. None of us are loved because of how we showed up, but rather how God showed up in our lives. He loves us because we are made in His image, he handcrafted our entire being. He loves us no matter our test scores, our temperaments, or whether we got that new car or that college acceptance letter. He loves us with His whole being and although I will never be able to love the way God does because He is love, I will strive to meet people right where they are at, loving them without hesitation because this is something the Lord has called us to do.