Scrap. Sweater. Two words I never expected to use together. For quilts, yes; but for sweaters, no. But there you have it.
After completing DH's sweater I had enough yarn leftover for a sweater for me ... not enough to do the pattern I'd had my eye on for a while (since there was not enough of one yarn for a background colour) ... but a sweater's worth of leftovers all the same. Not a huge fan of stripes, I went searching for a pattern that would use all the scraps and still look unified.
I found one, and, being someone
who is interested in other people, I read the pattern writer's blurb. At
the bottom there was something that caught my attention. To paraphrase, the
writer said that it was important for her to love the way Jesus loved and that
her little place on the internet was a safe place for all.
At first reading it sounds like
a lofty ideal ... a noble concept. After all, aren't we all who are Christians
being made into the image of Jesus Christ? What could be a more higher calling
than to love like He does?
Except ... except when
I hear something like this what it usually means is: "I won't judge you
[for your sin] if you don't judge me."
I know nothing about this pattern writer except for what she shared, so I could be off the mark here. It's possible I have totally missed the point. I hope so. But let's break down the idea presented in those words because this is not a lone voice. Rather, comments such as this are becoming increasingly common and often there is enough truth within them to convince us that it's all truth.
To love like Jesus ... means exactly what? To love the saved and the unsaved? Absolutely. But also so much more.
To love like Jesus does not
mean to celebrate sin but to mourn over it.
To love like Jesus does not
mean to ignore an opportunity to exhort people to turn from their sin and to
follow Him.
Yes, He loves us, sin and all,
but He knows we are lost. He understands that we are chained in darkness. He
came to set us free from those chains and to call us to live like Him. And, as
much as we might withdrew from that thought in a world that is so careful to
tolerate everything except for Christian thought, His life and love actually
points out to us that we are sinners.
He didn't come to cover up our
sin, but to release us from it.
He didn't leave us floundering in our sin but provided a way out.
To love like Jesus is to love others ... but it's also love to call out sin. And I admit, I have a hard time calling out sin in those I love. Nor am I exactly gracious when others point out my sin ... especially if I know they're right.
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