God's Love

Isn't this a great verse from Paul's letter to the Romans? (Chapter 5, verse 5)

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Make this your personal prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour out love in your heart for Jesus, for others.

Speaking of...

We don't always have the right impression of people. Here's a story of mine in this. A few years ago I saw a video of a man talking about the love of God and while he spoke words I believed to be true, and he was affiliated with a ministry I respect, I felt he was really arrogant.

He spoke like a politician, you know, sounding so much about himself though he spoke of Jesus.

Fast forward a few years, I met this man in my living room. He came to speak at some meetings and I was anxious to meet him. He walked in, greeted other guest and speakers in the room, but never once spoke to his hostess, me.

Now, at the risk of sounding like a diva, I didn't mind that he immediately engaged in conversation with others, they were people he knew. Maybe he's shy about meeting new people, maybe he didn't realized he missed being introduced to me.

While it didn't help my impression of him, I gave him the benefit of doubt. Throughout the weekend, situations arose, slight conflict, and while discussing these issues with a mutual friend, I confessed, "He is so arrogant."

A weekend in my home and while we were busy with meetings, he didn't say more than 100 words to me, or hubby, or our team.

Fast forward a few more years to last night. I happen upon a podcast of his wife speaking of him. In such a heart of genuine love she said, "When I first met my husband the thing that stood out to me was his humility. He was a leader, but did not run over people."

I was amazed. Of all the words I would use to describe this man, based on my brief encounter and distant observations, humble is not one of them. Passionate, intense, lover of Jesus, but humble? No.

So, who needs to change here? Me. My impression is wrong, no matter what this man projects to outside observers.

It was a lesson to me that I need to seek God about how I view others instead of making judgments based on my weak human heart.