On any given day in any given year, we as people can find things to disagree about. There are differences in religious, political, sports, music preferences….the list could be endless.
Sometimes we find it easy to agree upon issues. Other times, we find it difficult to truly understand one another when differences seem to outweigh similarities.
But, what if rather than stand so firmly in what we believe to be true, what if we leaned in – rather than out – when someone comes to us with something we don’t agree with or understand.
Recently, I had a conversation with my oldest daughter about being open to the ideas, thoughts, and opinions of those around her. I didn’t suggest we always agree with everything that is brought our way, but invited her to participate in conversations with others with a spirit of curiosity. What if we combined our critical thinking skills with our value system to arrive at our own beliefs, all while holding space for others to believe as they are led? There really is a lot more nuance to life than we sometimes realize.
My daughter and I discussed what it would look like to take the gentlest approach to having interactions with others where dissenting opinions prevailed. She said something that stopped me in my tracks: “The best path to Jesus is paved with love.”
To be so young and to have such clarity made my heart swell and my mind spin in awe simultaneously.
Essentially, her point was, if we want to point people to the path of Jesus, we do so by the way we live, not by telling others what to believe. When we operate out of love, and let the Holy Spirit intervene in the world in a way in which we will never be able to do so, we build bridges. We build paths of love.
I think about the various paths in Biblical stories. We imagine the path Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We read about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem atop a donkey on Palm Sunday. We marvel at the meeting that occurs in Saul as he meets Jesus on the Road to Damascus, spurring the new creation of Paul and his writings that left the world a changed place.
What is a common thread that ties these roads together? They each revealed a transition from earthly to eternal, and they were each paths paved by love.
I pray that as we live our lives and engage with others, we point others to One who lovingly and tenderly invites us to walk the road with Him. Everyone is welcome on this journey.
Note to you, sweet reader, from my daughter: “Always love others no matter what because you never know what someone is going through. Love is the best way to tell others about Jesus and what his eternal love did.”
Rooted in Grace and Grit 