When I was running today, I started thinking about endurance and pain and spending one's self. I thought about Jesus, how he gave his life completely. Jesus came to give, not to take. I think about the religious extremists in our world. We have people who are taking lives in the name of God. They are fully convinced that they are meant to carry out God's justice. But Jesus' life and attitude were completely different. He never killed. He never took life. He came to give life. People who want to bomb abortion clinics might argue that this is war. They might justify their actions by saying that they are fighting for the lives of these unborn babies. I want to argue that our battle is not against flesh and blood. The war we fight is a spiritual war. The example that Jesus set was one of giving and not of taking. Taking is selfish. You want to change the world? Change yourself. (Okay, that part is actually taken from Ghandi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world.")
This year I want to have an attitude of giving. "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15: 12, 13)
