Creative Loving

How big is your circle of friends? The people you care for, the people you love? Differing between people it must be, do you know how big it should be? Well according to God, it should be 6371 km in diameter. And it's more like a sphere of friends actually...

Because guess what? God said to love everyone. The whole world! Even enemies, the stranger you see on the train, the neighbour everybody stays away from, the homeless man at the station. That's a daunting task isn't it! Whenever I get challenged to love like that, I give up without even trying. I say "too expensive" or "too time consuming" and after justifying myself, I forget all about it. But what's the point of being challenged if I don't do anything about it!

So, I came up with an idea...

You might remember some time ago I posted about how everyone had some creativity in them, even if it wasn't appreciated by others or by themselves. Well, one good way to use our gift of creativity would be in love. To do some Creative Loving. 

What I mean with creative love is not "How to say 'I Love You' in 100 creative ways", which is what the world might think of the term, but rather understanding that with whatever skills or resources we have (doesn't have to be money) we can love someone, in response to Jesus' love for us. 

So for me, I have decided to give more of my time and "status", as some might call it, away to love those in need. Practically, this would mean me stopping to talk with those who might be lonely, or collecting cans from neighbours for the homeless to eat.

Although creative loving makes it sound more fun, loving all the people in the world is a daunting and near impossible task. That doesn't mean we give up without trying. Start with small steps, remembering that your love is just a reflection of God's love for us.