40 Day Challenge-Day 1 follow up (To love or not to love...)

Try to contain yourself and don't expect this often....can you believe I am posting twice in 1 day?
So?  How did you do on Day 1?  Did you love well?  A better question might be, "Did you love at all?" 

I was halfway through my day before I thought, "How have I shown love today?"  It was not hard for me to love because the people I work with are lovable ( not to mention that I was too busy to love).  Then a thought hit me, "What about my family, how can I show them love?"  We all know that they are often the last to receive our love and attention at the end of the day and the ones that know us best, so therefore, they are more apt to see us at our most unlovable. 

The answer was clear, "Close your mouth, open your ears, end the day knowing more about their day then they know about yours, take out the garbage for your hubby, scratch his head (if he ask....praying he doesn't....why is this so burdensome to me?)  This task has been easy so far because he hasn't come home from work yet.

So, if you feel like you've failed at loving so far today, remember the day's not over yet.  Who in your home is yearning to be loved?  If you live alone, I can tell you, you are still unexcused from loving because God is yearning for your love.

Tomorrow we will delve into "Judging" versus "Letting God search your heart".....

Goodnight....(I can't wait to hear from you!)

40 Day Challenge - Day 1..."Put off" lack of love..."Put on" love

So, as the title of this post says....today's challenge involves "putting off" a lack of love and "putting on" love.  I used to think this wasn't a problem for me and I prided myself (my first mistake) in the fact that there wasn't anyone I didn't love.  That was easy words to say because I was immersed among the lovable.  But.....what about those that aren't lovable?  I'll bet your mind immediately went to the pedophile in your neighborhood or the homeless man that stands at the Walmart exit.  However, that's not who I'm talking about.  I am talking about the daily personal encounters: the boss that ridicules you in a crowd because you wouldn't even take a sip of the wine at the work social, the condescending co-worker, the rebellious child, the ungrateful spouse, the guy that broke your daughter's heart, the neighbor who complained because your dog was barking....the list is endless!  I'm sure you could add a stream of unlovable people to the list.  
    Well, guess what?  God doesn't excuse us from loving them just because they've hurt or offended us in some way.  We are to love because He first loved us.  We were so undeserving of His love and He loves us anyway.  I can't quite wrap my measly little mind around this, can you?  
    Here are the scriptures that go with today's challenge:

        1 John 4:7-8, 20
       John 15:12

I didn't write them out because I wanted you to see them with your own eyes and let the Holy Spirit guide you in how to apply them.  

If you want to know what this challenge is about, go to my previous post, "40 Day Challenge - Intro".

Remember the dirty pantry we discussed in the previous blog, well here is mine:

I dare you to post a picture of your own (the junkier the better, it's an analogy).....who knows we might be inspired to literally clean out our pantry in the next 40 days.

Today's challenge:  Love the unlovable.....
                                                Now, flesh it out!

(Comments welcome on how you applied this today).  

40 Day Challenge - Introduction (The Dirty Pantry)....

I recently received my copy of "Revive" magazine from Life Action Ministries.  At the end of the magazine there is a personal worksheet called, "40 Days of Change".  I immediately felt I should make this my own personal challenge.  As I write this I pray the Lord will give me strength to carry through and commit to this for 40 days.  This is how the challenge works:  Each day we are encouraged to "put off" ways, attitudes and desires that are not consistent and obedient to God's teaching.  This is taken directly from Ephesians 4:22-24.  Think of it as cleaning out your pantry and getting rid of any junk food.  Getting rid of the junk food is not enough because after awhile of staring at an empty pantry, you will long to fill it (and your belly) with some food.  You may slowly slip back into putting junk into your pantry (less guilt) or you may rapidly do so to "get it over with".  You now have two choices:  1)  Replenish the cabinet with junk food that will leave you feeling worse, disease you, and never satisfy OR 2)  Replenish the pantry with wholesome food that will fill you, satisfy you, and make you healthy.  (Are you with me so far?)  This is where the "putting on" comes in.  The wholesome food could best be compared to fruit of the Spirit.  Enter another concept from the same early stated body of scripture...."renewing the mind".  At first replacing the junk food with wholesome food won't be easy.  Junk food is cheap and quick to attain and makes you feel good initially.  Wholesome food is costly and hard to grasp as your body rids itself of the "junk".  Your mind will tell you, "Go for the junk".  Your body is crying, "NO, Go for the wholesome food!".  The Bible tells us to "take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ".  The war always begins in the mind (ongoing) but the battle was won on the Cross (past, present, and future).
....Enough said, I knew this would become longwinded.  If you would like to join me in "cleaning out the pantry" (this is the "putting off" process), read on....if not, I ask for your prayers and support.  To those joining in "pantry cleaning", read the steps below suggested by Life Action Ministry:

• Each day we will have a "put off" and a "put on" with suggested scripture reading.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs to be "put off" and confess your sin to God.
• Write on an index card one or more practical ways you could "put on" obedience in this area.
• Take the card with you and review it throughout the day.

If you have committed to this challenge, I would love to hear from you as we "clean" together...this way I can pray for you and we can hold one another accountable.  Also, pray for me, that I can be diligent in this posting for the next 40 days...

Alright, ready.....set......go!

Our first challenge begins tomorrow and I'll give you a hint, it has to do with love.