A Safe Place

I John 4:7 “Dear friend, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”
I John 4: 11-12 “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
“ No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”

Wow! I think the Lord has made it clear for us that we should love one another. His love for us is not conditional. Therefore our love for one another should not be conditional. This is the first thing we must understand in our walk of “being real” with one another. We need to offer a place of safety for others to come to us and share their burdens, trials, temptations, and joys. When we do this, we have also made a safe place for us to do the same.

What makes a place of safety? Well, that would be a place where there is no judgment or ridicule, but accountability through love and compassion. Where what is said is held in confidence and not made subject of gossip or “prayer request”. Where there is a shoulder to cry on and ears to just listen. Sometimes we feel like we need to “fix” the problem or the person with the problem, this is our human nature. But, we need to rely on God’s wisdom and let Him give direction. We need to remember that words are not always necessary.

Where do we start? I think the best place is with family and friends. God chose our families for us for a purpose, and even though we may not see eye to eye with them all the time, I believe He gave us our family as a place of refuge when we feel like there is no other. So, I guess we have to ask ourselves if we have made it a safe place for each of our siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc… You may be asking “does this include my spouse’s family?” I think it does. Matt. 19:5 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” God has chosen this family for us too. We should treat them the same. Then He blesses us with friends. These are people we are drawn to through our love for Christ, similar interests, etc… To grow this friendship we must be willing to “over look” certain characteristics. We seem to do this easier with our friends than we do our family. Why is that? Anyway, when we can make a place of safety in these two areas then we are able to start to open ourselves to our church family and those we encounter on a daily basis.

What a great way for us to show God’s love for one another. I know it is scary to do this and that will be our topic for next week.