Bacon and Love

I think that being God's Love in the world means reacting to life in a spirit of sacrifice, in a spirit of Love to neighbor, which in my case is my family mostly. When I see needs I should work to meet those needs, when I see sin I should forgive it and heal it. When I am frustrated I ought to recall Jesus on the cross giving His all for me and strive to respond in that same spirit.

Here is a mundane example of how I have failed to do this up until now. I have a refrigerator in my bedroom in which I store my food, separate from the rest of the family's food. This is because I want to eat a certain diet and felt that I could better control what I ate by keeping my supplies apart the rest. However, I bought a large supply of bacon, and then did not cook it frequently enough to consume it before it went bad. Why did I do this? Because I was afraid the smell would let them know I was eating yummy bacon, and that would cause them to beg for some of my bacon. Yet because I didn't eat it, out of fear someone would want some, it has started to go bad, now no one can eat it. Well, not quite, actually it smells like it's almost turning so I'm cooking the whole pile into very crispy strips to sprinkle on salads or use in other things, I'll store it in the freezer, but still... This was wrong! It was not loving but selfish. Now, does that mean I must give over all of my food to be consumed by the rest of the family? Actually, yes it does. It is not an act of love to hoard food in my room, I'm pretty sure. Out of fear that I would be deprived of the food that I wanted (needed?) to eat in the future I held back from eating it myself even when I wanted it! Not only is that selfish it is foolish as well, self defeating to say the least.

FEAR vs. LOVE

That is what it's all about isn't it? Fear of hunger, fear of being taken advantage of, fear of humiliation, fear of poverty. But the Bible says that perfect love casts out fear! (1 John 4:18)

What then prevents me from living in love? Lack of trust for one. I have not trusted God to actually take care of me if I give all to Him. If I share my goods, my bacon, I fear that I will simply be deprived of them for no good purpose, I thought that it was my job to hold onto these things for the future, that future that, in the case of my bacon, never came!

So no, it is not my job to hoard things for future use, it is my job to act in love to my neighbor and trust to God to provide for my needs. A simple lesson provided by the smell of slightly spoiled bacon. Amen.

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Larry Devich
I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Philippians 4:11b