Embodying God’s love one small step at a time

It is often said that God is love and to know God is to embody love. However, sometimes we get all caught up in the grandiosity of that love and the challenge of being like Christ.

Martin Luther, John Wesley and so many other religious figures throughout history have beaten themselves up over their inability to live up to the high ideals they believed God wanted out of them. They had tried and tried to live according to their understanding of Christ’s teachings and discovered their own inability to maintain course and receive a sense of affirmation from God that they were holy.

Sometimes we want to focus on the great things we want to accomplish for God or the great sign we expect to receive from God and we miss out on the many small steps and signs from God that could be reached each day.

I struggled during my seminary internship. I wanted to do great things. When I didn’t, I felt depressed. My supervisor pointed out that I was too focused on that record-setting high bar. I was staring up at it so much that I didn’t see that I had already jumped over a bar higher than anything else I had jumped over.

I can do so much for God, but I risk quitting if I don’t celebrate the achievements I make along the way. So much has happened in my ministry that I rejoice in all the ways I’ve made a difference. I want to encourage you to be out there, embodying God’s love as well.

Keep on taking steps. Keep on making jumps. We all need practice to move onto perfection.