This verse has been a favorite of mine since the first time I read it, years ago. It's one thing to say you love someone. It's a whole other thing to show them you love them. I'm not just talking about your husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, mom or dad... No. I am talking about "loving your neighbor." Agape love. Changing the world. And when I say that, most people look at me like I'm nuts. (Which, OK, is true. For those of you that know me, you know what I mean by this.) But I'm not talking about changing the whole world all at one time. That is nearly impossible. (But we all know that nothing is impossible with God!) But Mother Teresa once said something like, "You don't change the world all at once. You change the world by helping one person at a time." And that's how I like to live my life. You don't need to pick up a homeless guy off the streets and buy him a house. But maybe you could bring him some food to eat once in a while. You don't have to adopt the baby of the girl down the street who's fallen on hard times, but maybe you could bring her a package of diapers. You don't have to solve your friend's problems, but you could just be a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Here's an example of what I am talking about. I had a friend in high school who got very sick for a while. She recovered, but in the time she was gone, her "friends" talked about her and said "she wasn't really sick. She was just skipping school," and various things of that nature. She had absolutely no desire to come back to school after that. She felt rejected and alone. She didn't want to be in such a hostile environment where her so-called "friends" treated her this way. Well, one day after school, I gave her a call to see how things were going and let her know that I missed her, because I really did! The next day, she showed up at school. I didn't think there was any correlation between these two events, but I had a teacher and the counselor both come up to me on separate occasions that day to inform me that she told them that my phone call made all the difference and made her want to come back to school. And all I did was call her. I didn't spend a lot of money. I didn't do anything of great measure. I didn't have to work hard to get it done. I simply made a phone call. Her friends would tell her they loved her and were best friends and things of the sort. To her face. But when she was gone, they said very hurtful things about her. I, however, showed her I loved her by something as small as a phone call! So my friends, "Let us love not in word or speech, but in truth and action."
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:)
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