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A Beehive Full of Dentine

For instance, one time before I got saved, Linda took me to a camp meeting hoping something would sink in. Wes and Andy were little boys and they were pretty bored during the service so I'd given them each a piece of Dentine gum. They sat there quietly, swinging their feet and smacking their gum. Within a few minutes, this lady with a beehive hairdo who was sitting in front of us turned around and stared at them. In a few more minutes she turned around again, looked me at me, narrowed her eyes and hissed like a skillet full of rattlesnakes, “Your boys are chewing gum!”

“I know. I gave it to them,” I said. “Now mind your own business.” (Remember, I told you I wasn't saved at the time.)

Fact is, I didn't want to be there in the first place. It was hot enough to peel paint, and I was downright miserable. She'd been hateful to my boys, so, I scooted them over and sat directly behind her. I loaded my mouth with Dentine and smacked it long and loud and hard the whole service. As you can imagine, Linda was mortified and kept digging her elbow into my side.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when the service was finally over. We stood up to be dismissed and when we did, I accidentally coughed and that gum flew out of my mouth straight into her beehive. She never felt a thing. We all stared at the back of her head for a moment then beat it out of there as fast as we could. I laughed all the way home thinking of her trying to comb out her hair.

Now, Sister Busybody was probably in that church every time the doors opened. But what she had, I wanted none of. She didn't display one ounce of love or patience or kindness.

I like what 1 John 4:20-21 says. “If anyone boasts, ‘I love God,' and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both” (The Message).

Love Lavishly

It's not enough to talk religious and attend church. It's not even enough to listen to sermons and talk about love. We must demonstrate the love of God if we want others to know Jesus. And, in order to do that, we must be vitally connected to Him. His life and love must be in us, so we have something to give to others.

Some things in the Christian life are optional. But love is not one of them. Jesus says, “This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.” (John 15:12-13). Jesus intends for us to love others completely and without reserve. So, let's do that!

Now, if you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today is a great time to meet Him! I like the promise in Hosea 4:4 because it's what God did for me. It says, “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them lavishly.”

I pray the healing power of God will touch every area of your life. And, I pray you come to know the lavish love of God—so you too, in turn, can love others unconditionally.