Sling It!Sample

L - Loving it over 'Legging' it

We need to keep love at the centre of any giant-sized challenges.

Ephesians Ch 5:2 directs us to ‘walk in love’. This is not easy, especially when we are in the middle of a battle. We may not feel like walking in love - in honesty, we may feel a lot more like ‘legging it’ in fear.

Giants in our lives can seriously cause us to want to ‘leg it’ (an English phrase for run off). That’s exactly what the other Israelites did. When Goliath came out to the battle line and shouted his insults at them, they were terrified, and they legged it; “Whenever the Israelites saw him they all fled from him in great fear.” (1 Sam 17:23-24)

We can be tempted to do the same as the Israelites did in this battle and ‘leg it’ in fear because of our giants. However, I believe that instead, we need to choose to remain calm, to stand our ground and to walk in love. This means a steady plod - a confident and unhurried walk, not running off in the other direction. One foot in front of another. One day at a time. Take a deep breath, stay calm, and keep walking on consistently in the way of love.

I know I can be guilty of wanting to ‘leg it’ when times get tough. Even if not physically, I can ‘leg it’ in my mind. Legging it could look like mentally checking out and medicating ourselves with TV, food, alcohol or another vice to avoid dealing with the problem. Legging it - whether that be physical or mental and running away from our issues is not the solution.

Pause to consider what it looks like for you in your giant-sized struggle to walk in love. Also, take time to consider in what ways you are at risk of legging it?

Be determined to stand your ground and not 'leg it' in fear, but face this problem head-on, one day at a time, calmly, walking in love.