40 Days of PEACE: Day 1

I wanted to start off my new role as Director of PEACE with 40 Days of PEACE. During the next 40 Days I will be doing the study I did in Fall of 2006 where I first heard of the PEACE Plan, it's goals and purpose. This was a life changing study for me the first time I did not, not only because of the content, but it was also the first time I completed a 40 Days study from beginning to end on schedule. So here goes:



Day 1 - Love

"When you get near God, you don't become more spiritual, you become more loving."

Questions: What makes it hard for me to believe that God loves me unconditionally? What makes it so hard to express love to the unlovely in the world?

Love to the unlovely? Sounds so poetic. To be honest, it is hard to think of myself as unlovely. But I too am flithy, naked, and poor. Where I am so often blinded by class, color, smells, or culture... I compare myself to others, not seeing our similarities, but differenced.

I know God is love... I totally feel it from the depths of me. Do I deserve His love? No. Do others? No. But God gives it anyway! God so love the world (well... people) that He gave Jesus to die for it! And Jesus died for ALL! Not just the ones who see themselves as lovely.

Unconditional love is so hard to understand with my human mind. Everything here has conditions/restraints: time, energy, money, resources. It is only when this term (unconditional) is taken heaven-side does it make any sense.

But how can I understand a heaven-sided view of unconditional love here on Earth? JESUS. He was able to show unconditional love while on Earth. He surrounded Himself with the most "unlovely" of his day: tax collectors, poor, sick, prostitues.

And here I am being asked to love my upper-middle class neighbors... what's my problem? Why do I struggle so!?

God help me to better love. To love like You.