This summer, I had the opportunity to attend Impact Summer Camp. That week was such an awesome time to grow closer to others and most importantly to God. I have never enjoyed a camp as much as I did this year. But besides the activities, meals, and hangin’ out time, the services were extremely impacting. Josh Joines was the speaker for the week and he spoke on the topic of our heart. More specifically, a change of heart. I think that everyone at the camp had something that needed to be changed in their heart.
The thing that stood out to me the most, was LOVE. Not just LOVE towards ourselves, and towards God, but LOVE towards others. So many times throughout our day we have hundreds of opportunities to reach others with LOVE. But do we really always use those opportunities to impact others. One thing that Josh said was that “LOVE should be our defining mark to others; that is how we should be identified.” The Bible puts it in this way: Your LOVE for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. - John 13:35 (NLT) When you read that verse, it doesn’t tell you do something that is impossible or hard to do. Instead, it is one of the simplest tasks there is: LOVE one another.
Within this concept, Josh also talked about LOVING the UNLOVABLE. This is something that is hard for most people to do because of your relationship with someone. Whether they hurt you, or you just don’t enjoy being around them, Jesus commands us to LOVE them. I have heard sermons about this before, but it struck me really hard this week. Josh said that “Our decision to love others should never be based upon whether they deserve it or not. God always LOVES us even though we are UNLOVABLE sometimes.” We need to have a heart of compassion towards others. This in turn enables us to LOVE those whom we may dislike, even when we don’t want to. Josh said that “Compassion is not a feeling but an attitude. When we have compassion we have the same attitude of Jesus Christ.” Part of Philippians 2:1 which talks about the attitude of Christ asks us: Are your hearts tender and compassionate? We need to have compassion rooted deeply within us, because out of that flows the same kind of LOVE that Jesus had for everyone. If we want to be imitators of Christ, we must have compassion and LOVE.
Since I have been home from camp, this has been constantly brought to my mind. It is now becoming a daily occurrence, and a decision that I can choose to make everyday. I’m so glad that my experience at Impact didn’t end when we left camp, but it continues to occur in my life. I hope that this encourages you to LOVE everyone just as Jesus did!!!!
