{"id":3850,"date":"2022-03-18T09:37:17","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T13:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=3850"},"modified":"2023-02-27T22:40:56","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T03:40:56","slug":"love-is-all-you-need-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=3850","title":{"rendered":"Rhythms: IN (Developing a Love First Mentality)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watchmen Nee wrote that his mentor, Margaret Barber, cared more about life than work. She focused on loving the people God brought her way rather than the work she needed to get done.<\/p>\n

What a beautiful focus. This is my desire as well, but too often loving people gets lost behind the pressure to get things done.<\/p>\n

Story<\/h3>\n

A while ago, I needed to get the name of diabetic test strips which would be covered under our new insurance plan. My pharmacy told me to call my doctor. My doctor told me to call my insurance company. My insurance company referred me to a third party, which handled pharmacy issues.<\/p>\n

After navigating a labyrinth of computer generated voices, I finally spoke to a person. His name was John. His voice was slow and shaky. I had the call on speaker and my wife and I could tell John was elderly.<\/p>\n

John didn\u2019t know the answer to my question and suggested I call my pharmacy. When I told him I had,\u00a0 he suggested I call my insurance company. I tried to calmly explain that my insurance company was who told me to call him.<\/p>\n

By this point, I had no compassion for John. I really just wanted to mark this nagging to-do off my list. I didn\u2019t care what John might have been going through. \u00a0I\u2019d lost sight of any opportunity to love him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I did not have a love first mentality.<\/p>\n

John put me on hold so he could try and get an answer. While we waited, my wife helped me see the situation differently. She could tell he was having a difficult time.\u00a0 She felt bad for him.<\/p>\n

When John got back on the line, he had an answer. As he explained it, my wife made a signal for me to pray with him. This wasn\u2019t on my radar, but when he was done, I said, \u201cJohn, is there anything I can pray for you about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d John answered quickly.<\/p>\n

Then there was a silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can I pray for you about?\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy salvation,\u201d John cried out.<\/p>\n

Wow.<\/p>\n

I prayed with John right there on the phone, though I\u2019m sure the call was being monitored. I prayed he would recognize God\u2019s tremendous love for him. I let him know God was willing to allow His Son, Jesus, to die in his place to rescue him and give him salvation.<\/p>\n

When I finished and said goodbye, we could hear what seemed to be sobs from John before we hung up.<\/p>\n

What a wonderful interaction. But I almost\u00a0 missed it. I was so focused on getting things done, loving John had dropped from any consideration. I\u2019d lost sight of the most important thing.<\/p>\n

The Great Command<\/h3>\n

Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, gave his disciples a single great command. He told them that as they followed this one thing, they would stay connected to his love and their joy would be made complete.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.\u201d John 15:12<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in the evening, in John 13, Jesus had washed their stinky, dirty feet. The next day, He would endure a cruel death on a cross to save them.\u00a0This is how He\u2019d loved them. This is how He’s loved us.<\/p>\n

Jesus’ new command to them, and to us, is to love others in the same sacrificial way He’s loved us.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the work. It\u2019s the people. The things we do<\/strong> are not an end but a means to bring us to the people God wants us to love<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As we yield to God’s Indwelling Spirit, He will accomplish the work He wants done through us. But the Lord wants our focus to be on loving.<\/p>\n

But what about everything else?<\/h3>\n

Having a love first mentality is absolutely what I’ve been called to do, but how do I keep my duties from becoming my primary focus, especially when to-dos mount and time is crunched?<\/p>\n

I’m learning that, in God’s greater plan, tasks and even the problems I face, can be aids to my loving, not deterrents. It all depends on my overall intensions. Am I doing to love or just plan doing?<\/p>\n

Looking back at my conversation with John, I was frustrated even before I talked to him. I felt like I was getting the runaround trying to get a simple answer. Finding the right test strips was one of many nagging to-dos on my every growing task list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I ask myself what could have made a difference and given me a love first mentality with John?<\/p>\n