To Say Love...

How much do I love you?...

The other day I was standing in the kitchen with a couple people I know but am not super close with. It was late, and we had all just spent several hours salsa dancing, and were rewarding ourselves with ice cream, conversation, and laughter. Two of the four people I was with do not believe in Jesus in any way, and at least one of the the two would do anything to prove those of us who do believe wrong. Us "Jesus followers" are almost pitied by them... The other two believe in Jesus, but do not voice much of that belief around the others... for fear of being judged, pitied, looked down upon, or whatever their reasoning is... In the midst of conversations going around, I overheard one of them telling another that his first language was actually Hebrew, and he is in the process of refreshing his knowledge of it..

I had two options. 1. Ignore this conversation since I was actually not involved in it, or 2. Jump at the chance to show my tattoo that has Hebrew.. and explain why...

Well, since I am not shy and I am really excited about my tattoo, I instantly pulled out of my conversation and said "Since you can read Hebrew.. I have something to show you.." One of the friends who knows Jesus cautioned me in a joking way about "showing too much" ... But, I knew this was a perfect opportunity. I showed my tattoo, and he read it and contemplated. I showed the others there that were curious, and then I was asked the question I was waiting for.. "what does it mean?" ... so I began explaining each part of it, and the cool thing was the guy who could read Hebrew helped me explain what it meant... I did not get the chance to explain each detail because of another person wanting to show off their tattoo... But, I do not really care about that, what I care about is that I got to show it and explain it, and not be cautious or worried about how I might sound.. I simply shared with them who my Savior is to ME...

So, after this encounter I began thinking... "why not?" and I cannot come up with an excuse.. Why would I not take every opportunity I had to mention who Jesus is to me?... Why would I keep my mouth shut about why I love Him, believe Him, and follow Him? I hate that I have this wonderful thing, this gift, this complete security, and I lackadaisically decide when and where I will share... I feel like there is something significantly wrong with that.

What is my response to problems people share?.. "I'm so sorry, hope it gets better!" ... Sadly that is my response sometimes. I try to be intentional and say something like "Jesus loves you." .. I mean why not? He does.

But, seriously, why do I get that weird feeling in my stomach when I know I have the chance to mention Jesus to someone? Why do I get that fearful thought that I might "make it worse" or become just another over zealous Christian? I mean think about it... If I am trying every day to line up my actions with my beliefs, but have not actually whispered the reason behind my actions.. does it matter?

So, my goal for the next.. well just a goal in my life, is to practice integrating Jesus whenever it works. Mention Him whenever I can.. but, more than that to make sure that my life lines up at the same time. Not first, because I will forever have things I am failing at. But, I need to talk about my Savior as much as I would talk about a funny story, song I like, book I read, movie I saw etc.. etc.. I want it to be a natural thing coming out of my mouth. I want people to understand it is nothing "against them" but simply who I am BECAUSE of Christ. People need to hear AND see the love of Jesus in me.