For example, many of us say that poor people are poor because of their own bad choices, so they don’t deserve our help. Now, first of all, this largely isn’t true. But secondly, and more importantly, God calls us to love the poor no matter what. He doesn’t say “love the poor unless they made bad decisions.”

Similarly, he calls us to love immigrants. He doesn’t say love the immigrant, but only if he has his paperwork in order.

Leviticus 19:33-34 (The Message) says:

When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God.

Why do we struggle with that? Why do we make our love conditional?

“Universal Love” is the name of a classic Jungle track by 4hero, and it has one verse:

Every star in the sky
tells us how and shows us why
we must all give a Universal Love…

We must all give a universal love including everyone, and without discrimination for anyone.

Related:
The Great Commandment (part one)

Just imagine if the Great Commandment was your life’s mission statement, and you evaluated everything you did, all your major life-decisions, on these verses:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

How would you live? If you knew that the most important things you could do today were loving God and loving your neighbor, what would you do? It’s deeper than it seems, right? I really like how the senior pastor at my church paraphrases that commandment, “Love God, and love like God.” Maybe you already do this. I know I fall short. But I want to put that commandment at the center of my life.

One of my favorite songs from last year is by Jazzanova, with Phonte on vocals, and it’s called, “Look What You’re Doin’ to Me.” Towards the end of the song, Phonte sings:

There is love for all God’s children
We all breathe in the same sun
We all sleep under the stars at night
We know that we are one
And you’re the one for me

Maybe Phonte’s interpretation of the Great Commandment is, “love God, and love God’s children.” And maybe he’s saying in the last line, “I’m going to display this love most in how I love you (my wife).” I like that.

The Great Commandment seems simple, but I think it’s really huge. And I’m no theologian, but I think that placing these verses at the centers of our lives would be life-changing. Are you already doing this? If so, I’d really like to hear from you…

I’m a big fan of Kiva. Kiva is a web site that allows you to make small loans to entrepreneurs in parts of the world that really need your help. For example, I just gave $25 to a man selling food in Palestine. It’s a small amount of money to me, but it goes further there. And when multiple people give, it really adds up.

It’s important to note that this is not a donation in the traditional sense – it’s a loan. So the money will be paid back eventually. And this is the power of Kiva.

You’re familiar with the idea of compounded interest, right? You deposit money into a savings account that earns interest, and as you do so, you gain interest on the interest you’ve already earned. So you can save an amount of money, and that amount will keep working for you. Well, Kiva works similarly in that you can give a small amount of money, and keep that money working.

Let’s take the example of my Palestinian grocer. I loaned $25 to him, and eventually he’ll pay that $25 back. I could ask Kiva to send me a check for that amount, or I could choose to “re-loan” that money. Clearly, re-loaning the money would ensure that it goes much further than it would if I just asked for it back. So I re-loan it to another business in a poverty-stricken part of the world. Now my $25 has helped two businesses. See how it “compounds?” I’m not earning interest exactly, but my small loan is continuing to work.

I’m just beginning to realize the power of this concept. I’ve only given a couple hundred dollars, but it’s turned into more than $700 because I keep re-loaning. Again, this is a small amount of money, but I think it goes a long way to help small businesses that may not have many funding sources. And can you think of a better return on investment?

God calls us to serve the poor, and Kiva is one of many ways you can do that. If you’d like to learn more about Kiva, you can do that here. And if you’d like to see who I’ve loaned to, you can see a list here.

That word received new meaning to me when Kirk Franklin released “Imagine Me.” In the song, he says:

This song is dedicated to people like me, those that struggle with insecurities, acceptance and even self esteem. You never felt good enough; you never felt pretty enough, but imagine God whispering in your ear letting you know that everything that has happened is now… gone.

Imagine that – every sin, every mistake – all gone. God is so compassionate that when you go to Him for forgiveness, He clears away all those things. Gone. We don’t have to deserve that forgiveness; we can’t earn it. But He gives it to us anyway. This is His renewing and transforming grace.

God calls us to have leisure. In Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In his book, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper says this can also be interpreted to mean, “Have leisure, and know that I am God.” For those of us who work fifty or sixty hours a week, this is a welcomed message.

But how do we define leisure? Pieper describes it as:

…a form of silence, of that silence which is the prerequisite of the apprehension of reality: only the silent hear and those who do not remain silent do not hear. Silence, as it is used in this context, does not mean “dumbness” or “noiselessness”; it means more nearly that the soul’s power to “answer” to the reality of the world is left undisturbed. For leisure is a receptive attitude of mind, a contemplative attitude, and it is not only the occasion but also the capacity for steeping oneself in the whole of creation.”

So leisure, in this sense, doesn’t mean mindlessly chilling in front of the TV. It means being still, listening for God’s word for you, and meditating on it. Pieper says, “It is in these silent and receptive moments that the soul of man is sometimes visited by an awareness of what holds the world together.”

Take a break from work; take time away from the world, and listen for what God has to say to you.

Read more about Giano at Leisure Lab.

Do you have a song that, on those days you wish you’d stayed in bed, really lifts your spirits?  “Sing” by Roni Size and  Jocelyn Brown is that song for me.

The melodies, in their ascension, define upliftment.  And my favorite part is when Brown sings, “Peace is breaking out all over…”  Imagine, in a time of war, the idea of peace breaking out!  This track is soul music at the speed of love, encouraging us to sing for peace.

Never looking back
Or too far in front of me
The present is a gift
And I just want to be.

The word-play alone is great, but there’s a point to it, and the message is powerful. Live today, and don’t worry about tomorrow.

That’s hard to do, isn’t it? We worry constantly about what the future might bring, but God tells us all that worrying won’t add a moment to our lives. Instead, He says, we should rely on Him, knowing He will take care of us, and knowing He has provided a much brighter future for us after this life.

In Matthew, Jesus says that God already knows all of our needs, and will provide for them – we just need to focus on Him and His kingdom. He says, “…seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you…”

Of course that doesn’t mean life will always be easy. Jesus goes on to say, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

So what do we do when consumed by worry and anxiety? He tells us through the apostle Paul in Philippians:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Live today in Christ Jesus. The present is a gift.

Do you ever find yourself caught up with the things you don’t have? Maybe, from time to time, you think, “I deserve more than this.” Maybe it’s been a while since you got a raise, and you’re thinking, “I work hard every day, and it’s about time I got some more money.”

If you’re like me, it’s about the time you’re dreaming of that new flat screen when you hear about someone close to you struggling to pay her rent or buy groceries. And you get that sinking feeling – that realization that you got so caught up in yourself and your wants that you forgot about somebody who was struggling just to get by.

Maybe this is when you pray, “Lord, let me be grateful for all that I have, and help me remember those with so little.”

I think this is what Sharon Jones is talking about when she sings:

When I start demanding
More than the rest
When I start moaning
I didn’t get the best

Just remind me of the man
With nothing to eat
And remind me of the other man
With no shoes on his feet

These lyrics come from a song by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings called “Humble Me.” In the song, Jones seems to offer a prayer, asking God to “Humble me, humble me. Don’t let me forget who I am.” She sings:

And when you hear me asking
For all kinds of fancy things
Things you never had, no
And things you know you can’t bring
Don’t be afraid to
Humble me…

This particular verse is fascinating because Jones says “things you never had.” But if she is in fact talking to God, who created all things, why does she say “things you never had?” I don’t know for sure what she had in mind, but I do know that God, who could have come to earth as a king, came instead as a servant. No flat screen. No house. He could’ve had fancy things, and He could bring us fancy things now. But it’s not about those things, is it? It’s about loving God, and loving each other (especially the man “with no shoes on his feet”). How humbling is that?