Spiritual Question

At church on Sunday, two questions were posed to the congregation that really got me thinking:

1. What are you doing with your knowledge of God's love for each of his children?
2. What does it mean to you to love one another?

I really liked these questions. It has had me thinking first and foremost, do I really know that God loves his children and perhaps, even a step further back, thinking about, are we really God's children? I can personally tell you that first of all, I know that I have a Heavenly Father and secondly, he loves me. The love that he has for me is unconditional and sometimes I'm afraid that I abuse that unconditional love by not always doing what he asks but I also know that it is by that same love, that he is willing to overlook the mistakes I make and he continues to hold me in his arms. That being said, and returning to the original question, what am I doing with this knowledge, for me, it's quite simple. It's simple partially because God is not a complex God but rather a simple, peaceful, loving God that wants all of his children to know that he is their father but more importantly, that he loves them. He tries to share this with them in the safety they experience during the commutes to/from work, in the mountains & the countrysides, in their successes & trials, through their families and friends...he tries to share this with them in everything that is. Sometimes, that isn't enough and we don't quite catch on to what it is he is trying to tell us and so he needs a physical being, someone that can speak for him and do the things that he would do for his children if he were physically here. This is what I am doing with my knowledge that he loves his children. I made a decision almost 8 years ago when I was in the mission field to have no regrets in my life and I am continuing to uphold that decision today. This life is too short to be negative and let the worries of the world get us down. I try to help those around me see that all things we experience, whether we think they're good or bad, are given to us from a loving Heavenly Father. Sometimes, it's as simple for people as just being a friend to them, smiling at them as you pass them at work, sending someone a simple text message saying, "Hey, hope you're doing well" and sometimes it's dropping everything you had planned to spend some time listening to someone who doesn't feel the love from their father and consoling them with the hope that you can, in some way, pass on that love that our father is so freely sharing. The bottom line is this, I hope that everyone that I come in contact with, will be able to feel that love that I know our Heavenly Father has for them through my words & actions.

Question #2: What does it mean to love one another? This question I feel is answered even more simple: It means just that, we need to love one another. I don't think this means we need to love everything about everyone because we are still human and that may not be possible but I have learned over the years that there are very few reasons, if any at all, to completely hate someone. Everyone has something to offer if we will only take the time to find it within each and every person. In my experience, when I take the time to do this, my life is better because I am able to appreciate people more for who they are and not dislike them for who I think they are. This simple principle goes back to the golden rule, don't we want everyone to love us? If so, then shouldn't we love everyone else?

These two questions have had me thinking the last couple of days and I wanted to share my thoughts about them. This life is hard and sometimes, it's hard to see that God really does love us and that he wants us to be happy. This trial of SGA is so unique to each and every individual. We are all going through our own experiences and gaining our own understanding and knowledge and while sometimes we may come across people who have had similar experiences as us, the important thing to remember is that we were made individually by a loving Heavenly Father. Just because someone thinks differently than we do or openly attacks us for our decisions doesn't mean that we should attack them back or hate them. Our father has taught us better than that and he expects more from us. I'm grateful to have this knowledge and for the many people out in the world who I haven't met but have inspired me to be a better person.

Andy