Wow!! After a great day of hanging out with family, I come home to see the news that Whitney Houston has passed away. My heart is broken. Her talent was beyond compare. Being thrust onto the world stage, her life became another statistic of fallen stars. People pass judgement on Bobby Brown, saying he is the reason her star fell. My thought is this: we, the public, are the reason her star fell. We put her on a pedestal and held her to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. Anyone would cave under the pressure, and sure she made poor choices and surrounded herself with negative influences but she was human. But we could not, or rather would not, forgive the fallen angel. Maybe now Whitney has the love and acceptance she longed for, without having to live up to the unattainable standards of others. RIP Whitney, rest in True Peace.
As people living in a fallen world, it is easy to look at others and see their faults and flaws. Too often, we forget our own past shortcomings and near daily failures. It is easier to point fingers of blame and shame at others than it is to take responsibility and make change in our own lives. The young girl, pregnant and scared does not need you to tell her she is wrong and has sinned. She needs you (and God expects you) to show her love and forgiveness as God loved and forgave you. The man, alcoholic and lonely, does not need your condemnation and accusations. He needs you (and again, GOD expects you) to give encouragement and confirmation that he is worthy of grace and mercy. Please do not think that the bitterness, jealousy, and resentment you hold deep in your heart are not sin. Or that this secret sin of yours is somehow less appalling to God; that He will not hold you accountable for it. He will, just as He holds others accountable for their public sins. Sin is anything that you allow to hold you back from a fulfilling and abundant relationship with the Lover of your soul. Sin is anything that stands unsurrendered between you and God. Whether or not you acknowledge it, you will stand before the same GOD as the drunk, the whore, and the thief.
Longing for something deeper and more real than ever before, I have fallen to my knees praying that God would reveal my sins, those public and those hidden. I want to be set free and to be able to live in right relationship with Him and with others. With His eyes and His heart for the lost and the hurting, I want to remove my mask of Christianity and allow others to see that I am just like them, fallen and broken and far from perfect. The hope is this that I am crucified with Christ, I am humbled by the cross, and daily I am saved once again. The process is ongoing and will not be completed until I stand in His presence singing:
"I adore You for all that You are...
I love, I love to bring You praise
I love, I love to bring You praise with all I am
I will love You there's none above You
You are my everything
I will love You there's none beside You
You take my breath away"
Until that day, I will hold to this truth Jesus loves me (with all my imperfections and sin and failures HE loves me).
"Pressing on the upper way
Always guide me, Lord, I pray
Undeserving and stubborn willed
Never fail to love me still
Yes JESUS loves me,
Oh, yes Jesus LOVES me
Yes Jesus loves ME for the Bible tells me so."
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