Friday Focus #28

Love Out Loud

For those of us who text and love to use acronyms during communication we have all seen LOL which stands for "laugh out loud." I was sitting here thinking of another topic and I thought, what if we take that acronym and change the meaning, or add a meaning to it. Let's change LOL to mean "Love Out Loud." I know, that seems corny, but think about how different this can be. How many times do we criticize out loud? How many times do we tell people what we do not like about them out loud. But, when it comes to loving them and sharing what we love about them, we don't tell them. Ever. Just for today, try something different. For the person that you criticize the most (spouse, child, friend, celebrity on twitter- haha) use that same energy to focus on being loving. Jesus didn't go around critiquing everyone all the time, but you do. Flip it. Use today to be loving as Christ loves you for your shortcomings, mistakes and bad decisions.
 

Sometimes we need some verses to help us remember to be loving. I like the one which is often known as the "Golden Rule" which is Luke 6:31. It tells us do to others as we would want them to do to us. I mean think about it, if we all treated people they way we would want to be treated I think we would all be in a better place. If you don't like being yelled at and cut down, then don't do it to others. If you don't like being criticized in public, then don't do it to others. Flip it. Be loving and encouraging in public. No backhanded compliments, but genuine love. Let it flow from you freely for the benefit of others.

Lastly, let us remember 1 John 4:11. This verse tells us to love one another as God loves us (as I stated in the first paragraph). Even someone who doesn't "deserve" it. No where does scripture tell you to be mean or cruel to someone because you don't like them. We follow Christ. He didn't go around putting people down and telling them that they don't deserve to be loved or forgiven or given grace. Remember Christ is our example. Study his life and follow the example.

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