better than no one..

a few days ago when i brushed the dust off my bible and opened it up, i turned to hosea.. not sure why, that's just where i ended up. i think it's partly because i wanted to read about a people not so different from myself, who turned away from god for a time, but god in his infinite love, eagerly anticipated them to return to a covenant with him. i'm not saying i was off the map, and i'm certainly not celebrating that, just celebrating god's love for me.
i can only speak for myself, but i have a feeling most of us are in the same boat on the subject of justification. what i mean is this- how often do we justify who we are and what we do, by comparing our lives to someone "less great" than we are? for example- "my spiritual life isn't where it should be, but i'm sure better off than ____." what is that?!!?! where to we get that? when did jesus ever say it's about being better than your neighbor? he didn't. not even close. but i still look at the guy next to me and have this sick idea that i am somehow better than him. it's wrong on so many levels.. with that mindset it's gonna be impossible to minister to anyone. self righteousness is no way to bring people to jesus. that IS the goal, and with that in mind, maybe we should learn from the best- jesus himself. the one and only person capable of having the thought "i'm not a sinner like you" didn't have it! not only did he not have it, he specifically reached out to the "lowest" of people. he didn't hang out with people like him, like we do. we place ourselves with people who are like us- make similar mistakes, have similar faith.. jesus went to the prostitutes, the thieves, the tax collectors, fishermen, lepers, cripples, and showed them the love of the father. somethin's gotta change. whose footsteps are we following? we're all children of the same god. we are all equally loved by the same god. he loves me just as much as he loves you. he loves me the same way he loves the guy in prison for murder, the same way he loves the drug addict, the cashier at the gas station, the lady who cut me off on the freeway. it's about time we start loving people the same way.
i'm not pointing fingers, i'm absolutely talking to myself. i just know that i see people everyday who need to be shown the love of christ, not to be looked down on because they're sinners. we need to accept that we're no better than anyone, and what god calls us to do is to love everyone. i know that i need to change my foolish mindset that i'm "better" than someone into displaying compassion on them and reaching out for fellowship and ministering to the people who god puts in my life.

humbled. searching.
NCR