You give love a bad name.

posted 02.25.09 by Christian

I’m pretty sure when Bon Jovi sang in the 80’s “You give love a bad name” he was talking about me. Sometimes I feel like such a failure in this area. If you were to pull up beside of me on the highway and try to start some trouble I would probably agree to a little road rage confrontation.

If you stared at me and my family as I walked into a restaurant I would probably ask you what your problem was. If you were at church and I heard you gossiping I would probably tell you to shut up.

I have a long way to go when it comes to being patient and showing love to others when my blood pressure hits the roof. But the fact is, according to this scripture and many others, I won’t even be recognized as a follower of Christ until I learn to love.

Believe me, I have the warrior thing down pat. I am always ready to charge the battle field with sword in hand and kick some tail. You’re talking about a guy who’s top ten favorite movies are Gladiator, Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, The 13th Warrior, The Last Samurai, The Patriot, Master and Commander (The Far Side of the World), Remember the Titans, Tombstone, and last but not least The Count of Monte Cristo. I think we all get the point.

I have no problem being the lion and swinging my sword and watching heads roll but desperately want to learn to be the lamb and rescue the lost and lonely with a love embrace. How about this one, learning to love those who have done me wrong and consider me their enemy. That’s when the rubber hits the road. Why am I writing this? Just the other day God challenged me in a deep way through my oldest son Malachi’s example. He comes up to me and says “Dad I can’t go to school tomorrow because Patrick said he was going to tie me to the basketball poll and poke me with sticks”.

At first I was calm and asked him why in which he replied that Patrick had broke his Wei system and was very upset. I said Malachi, what does that have to do with you. He went on to say that he volunteered on his next birthday to use his money to buy Patrick a new Wei so he would not have to do without. I have to say it was a proud moment for me as a father. All the bible studies I had done, all the prayers lifted up, and all the long talks as we walked down the road together were paying off. I told him I was very proud of him for living out the heart of Christ, but ask him why Patrick was upset with this good jester. My son then said that Patrick said he wasn’t waiting until my birthday he wanted it tomorrow and if I didn’t bring the money he was going to beat me up.

OHHHHHH!!! NO HE DIDN’T!!! I jumped up from the couch, grabbed my son and looked him dead in his eyes, and said “Malachi, when you go to school tomorrow if that boy even comes near you I want you to stomp his tail in the ground do you hear me boy? I want you to grab his shirt with your left, use it for leverage, and punch him in the nose with your right. I gave him the whole speech about how if he didn’t stand up for himself now he would be running his whole life. I was on my way to Blockbuster Video to rent some UFC Fighting clips and start teaching my son octagon survival skils when my wife gently spoke up and said “Christian, that’s not the heart of Jesus”. I did it again didn’t I?

Ready to swing the sword and watch heads roll instead of allowing my son to live out the heart of Jesus. He has such a sweet spirit it’s hard to believe he’s mine but I’m glad he does, and that’s where I want to be. It just so happened the next day was Valentines and my son made a special bag of candy for Patrick, not out of fear or ready to bribe for his safety, but out of pure love. My son Malachi told me the next day before school that he would knock Patrick out if I really wanted him to, but he felt loving him with the candy would work much better. I agreed, and so it did. Instead of Patrick getting stomped I did, kicked right in the mouth with a reminder of who I’m called to be.

If this blog finds you short on love and quick to anger, read 1 Corinthians 13 and ask God to show you where you need the work. According to  2 Timothy 3:16 His word is always prepared to teach, train, and rebuke us so we will be ready to serve Him. And finally remember this, your not alone.

Peace.