Invest IN People!

Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

If we can’t truly invest in the people in our lives, then what good are we?

There seems to be a recurring theme the past few weeks in my life and even the past few years if I really look back honestly.  It’s as if watching one person break my heart into a million pieces and then someone else comes along and douses it with lighter fluid and tosses a match in amongst the rubble.  My walls are being burnt to the ground and it is painful.  The really important lesson in all of it is change.

Change is a scary word.  It provokes panic in most of us.  We like things to stay the same.  We like people to stay the same.  When someone we know and care about starts to change, it can stir up confusion, resentment, and disappointment.  How we choose to react certainly reveals a lot about our character.

Have you ever had someone you look up to, let you down?  Haven’t we all?  Did you react lovingly or turn your back on them?  Should we respond with love and compassion or turn our backs and walk away.  Washing our hands of the sinner once and for all?

What about a sister or brother in Christ whom you disagree with?  Did you decide that you were right and they were wrong?  Did you get defensive and attack?  Did you bad mouth them to others?  Or show grace and agree to disagree and let the matter drop?

Is it human nature to so easily condemn others?  A person who falls, certainly has a heavy weight on their shoulders.  Do we as brothers and sisters in Christ tag along to help ease the burden and carry some of the weight, or do we let them drag their own mess around?  Perhaps the best solution we could offer someone who is hurting and has really messed up is to help them take it to the foot of the cross and leave it there.

I challenge you to show others grace.  Even when they completely disagree with you.  Even when they fall hard and flat on their faces in sin.  Yes, even then.  Even if they are not a fellow believer.  Invest your heart and time in people.  They’re going to fail you and if they do, let the pieces fall and then get the broom out and sweep them up and move on.  Don’t dwell on it.

How will they know we are Christians?  By our LOVE.  Not by our acts.  Not by our self-righteous behavior.  Not because we attend the right church or listen to the right Chrisitan music.  But by the love we pour out onto others. Let it drip from every pour and splash up onto everyone you encounter , even when they fail.  Sometimes failure, allows for heart change, to which I hope none of us are immune.

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