Love Well

I am so thankful that I have a hot tub. Over the years, I have had some of my deepest conversations with my family in my hot tub. I've had some of my greatest conversations with God in my hot tub. I also love to listen to sermons (you guessed it) in my hot tub.

Last night, in my hot tub, I listened to an Andy Stanley sermon that hit me so hard that I got out of the tub, got dressed, and knocked on my son's bathroom door. Here was the conversation:

Me: Quinn, are you dressed?

Quinn (My 18-year-old son): NO.

Me: Ok, I'm going to sit out here and talk because I have something to say to you, and I really want you to listen.

Quinn: OK (Quinn is used to this type of  behavior from me)

Me: Quinn - I want you to get this.  Life is not just about trying to play by the rules and not mess up. It's not just about trying not to sin. My prayer for you is that you go out and you LOVE well. God's Word tells us they will know we are disciples by the way we LOVE.

Quinn: He cracks open the door, looks down at me sitting outside his bathroom, he smiles at me, and says, "I got it. Thanks"

I feel like this message is so huge, and last night, if I could have knocked on every door in the world and shouted this to the,m I would have "Go LOVE well".

At the end of the day, here's what God wants you to do - Go LOVE others.

I have a question for you.

When you pray, what do you pray for? When you pray for yourself and others, what are you asking for? I challenge you to ask God for this: "Help me (or whoever you are praying for) to see people the way You see them. Help me to LOVE better."

God cares about the way we love others, so we should care about this too.

I remember when Quinn was little, he had a bus driver whom he really struggled with. He would often get off the bus and complain about her. I would say, "Quinn, it's easy to love those who are easy to love, but we are called to love ALL people, especially those who are hard to love.".

I get it - it's tough to love some people, and the truth is we can't do it on our own. We need to get ourselves so filled up with God's love that we CAN love even those who are so tough to love.

We will never punish people towards Jesus. We will never shame people towards Jesus. We've got to LOVE people in such a way that they are drawn to Jesus.