People Of The Second ChanceSample

People of the Second Chance - Mike Foster

“Channels of God’s Love”

I want us to give the same passage we looked at yesterday a “second chance” to teach us something today. Because, you see, one of the lessons I am learning about God and how he shapes my heart is that God does his shaping through the people I love. Through the lives of the other beloved. It’s clear to me that when compassion and kindness are brought into my life, God is moving on my behalf. He is loving me through others.

I know many people have amazing experiences where they feel the love of God firsthand in their hearts. They go off alone and feel his presence, approval, and acceptance in a special and direct way. Maybe you’ve had one of those moments. I hope you have. I hope everyone does.

Still, I like to think that God’s love is always on, is constant. It’s not there only when we feel it and think about it or have a really spiritual moment. It’s always residing in us. His love, acceptance, and delight in us are ever present. And the key to experiencing even more of this love is to give it away. To let it flow out so we can be filled even more.

I guess God could just rain his love on us. He could set up a direct flow into each person’s heart. But that’s not how he set up the love exchange. We are not just reservoirs of his love and grace. We are channels. We are rivers meant to flow.

You can see the brilliance of this strategy. The more we love others, the more his love spreads out into the world. Maybe that’s why Jesus’s bottom line on living a powerful life came down to a two-pronged commandment: Love God and love others. It wasn’t just a commandment; it was a description of how life works. The more we love others, the more we experience the love of God.

This is also a clever way to dismantle the beautiful lies of judgment and labels. God has appointed the outsider, the misfit, the other as the primary mechanism for expanding the love inside our hearts. Loving the other is how we get more of him. More life. More of all we were meant for.

How can you give and receive God’s love through others today?