Preparing beforehand -- the forgotten step in loving one another (Luminous Friday)
How prepared are you to engage people this hour in the presence and power of Jesus?
The last two Thursday nights I have had the honor of
gathering with a group of men and women, reading aloud part of Luminous, and discussing the material
with them. Last night we focused on the last half of chapter 5, Being Present
with One Another. Our discussion zeroed in on what it means to come into social
interactions spiritually prepared rather than just showing up. One group member
said, “I’m a teacher, and it is important for me to come to class prepared. I
wonder why we don’t pay the same kind of attention to being prepared before we
spend time with people in everyday life.”
There are three ways to prepare yourself before entering
social situations.
1. Set your will.
“Before you interact, you decide that when you get into social situations, you
will act only for the flourishing of others… Want nothing but shalom for other
people…” (Luminous, 96-97). This is
best done by saying a short prayer just before your next social interaction
starts. The prayer could be, “Lord Jesus, love these people through me.”
2. Enjoy solitude.
Having a quality “getaway” time with God does more than anything else to help
you get yourself oriented to God’s ways of looking at things. Solitude is
pulling away from social interactions for a time so you can hear from God and
his Word. I think of it as time away with God so I can get my head on straight.
There’s no substitute for it! Without hearing from God and his Word, I am left
thinking my own thoughts, and that’s no way to be a vessel of the presence and
power of Jesus.
3. Form habits of
love. The more you love people today, the more you will love people
tomorrow. You prepare for future social interactions by building a consistent
pattern of acting for the benefit of others. Love people habitually, and it
will become natural to love people. That’s God’s will for all of us. So for
instance, if you’re tense about spending the holidays with your family, prepare
now by sacrificing for people consistently in the day-to-day world and building
up those healthy relational muscles. Then when some relative says something
snarky that threatens to touch off World War III, you will be able to let it go
and instead offer an unexpected, miraculous, Jesus-inspired response.
Note: Throughout 2014, my Friday posts will be excerpts and
thoughts from Luminous: Living the
Presence and Power of Jesus (IVP, 2013). My hope is that these posts launch
you into the weekend in a Jesus-centered way.
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