Our thoughts come today by way of a confession from one of our readers.
Pam writes:
I was in the waiting room of a lab to have blood drawn for an exam. An overweight woman came in a bit unkempt wearing a T-shirt that said something like “God loves you this much” with a graphic of outstretched arms. I was friendly, but see how I note “overweight” and “unkempt”?
Then a woman came in with a small child on her hip, perpendicular – not holding her – without shoes (it’s cold outside), and also with her was a 3-4 year-old carrying a hospital vomit tray. She signed in and immediately got on her phone to someone cussing about the lack of answers her doctor had given her about her son’s sickness. She was loud and it was “f—-ing” this and “g—damning” that. I was appalled and gave her the condescending look. But the lady in the T-shirt started talking in a soothing voice to the irate mom, telling her about a similar situation she’d gone through and how she might check into some other options to help her. The woman hung up and listened to the T-shirted woman and her frustration seemed to subside. I was called in to have my blood drawn feeling like the shallowest person in existence.
The anecdotes to this story are growing exponentially. I wanted to thank you for preparing me to see, though I failed miserably to respond appropriately.
I think Pam is being much too hard on herself. She didn’t fail miserably. She didn’t fail at all, because she saw so clearly what she had done and revealed it openly. This is exactly what walking in the light is all about. You see the truth about what you are doing and you bring it out into the open. As a result, other people can see and be healed. No doubt someone is reading this right now and realizing they did something similar – something they might not have seen had Pam not been walking in the light over this. I have such as distaste for T-shirts like this; I probably would have reacted the same way.
There is also the little fact about a learned lesson that makes for a different reaction next time you are in a similar situation. Hopefully we will all be slower to judge next time.
John Fischer The Catch 
In the challenge to see well and choose well and respond well, this seems to hit most of the points of the circle. I have been each of these people…the needy one, the caring one, and the judgmental one. Thanks, Pam, for sharing this story that reveals the opportunity for each of us every day. John, once again, a good assessment and perspective.
On that note……
The Bible Says Love Is a Habit
by Rick Warren
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32 NIV)
If you only love on and off like a light switch, you do not love others like God wants you to love. Jesus said, “If you only love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” (Luke 6:32a NIV)
His point is this: All of us can love those who love us back. Becoming a master lover means you learn to love the unlovable – when you love people who don’t love you, when you love people who irritate you, when you love people who stab you in the back or gossip about you.
This may seem like an impossible task, and it is – that’s why we need God’s love in us, so we can then love others: “We know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16a NIV).
When you realize how much God loves you – with an extravagant, irresistible, unconditional love – then his love will change your entire focus on life. If we don’t receive God’s love for us, we’ll have a hard time loving other people. I’m talking about loving people who are unlovely, difficult, irritable, and those who are different or demanding.
You can’t do that until you have God’s love coming through you. You need to know God’s love so it can overflow out of your life into others.
“And they overcame him (the Accuser of the brethren) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Rev. 12:11
Thank You for sharing this! The blood has not lost it’s power! Praise Jesus!!