I lay in bed beside Mary last night, stewing over an encounter I had that day with a friend who I disliked.

I began to make a list, starting with him, of people in my life that I didn’t like and found so completely unattractive. The Jerks, the Religious…

I’m learning about love, and of course this kind of thinking is detrimental not only to them but to me. So I asked Papa as I drifted off, “can you give me perspective on why I feel this way? I know it’s stinking thinking, but I just don’t like these people. Papa can you change my heart?”

Of course, I knew he could.

This morning, Sunday morning, I realized it wasn’t their outward appearance or behavior that made me dislike them. It was more in the fact that they didn’t value me or find me attractive. And I saw something in common about each of these people, they were all insecure, which in turn triggered insecurity in me.

So, still wrestling with myself over the contradiction of the Christ-life in me and the feelings I had toward these people, I entered a Sunday worship service and heard singing about the power in His name.

Immediately I realized that His name was my name and as I began to sing from this identity, the love of Papa began washing over me from head to toe. And I began to see the guy I didn’t like from Papa’s perspective.

Suddenly, it was all I could do to wait for the first opportunity to make a bee line for the fella to tell him who he was and of the great admiration, value and joy our Father had in him.

And oh my, I saw Papa looking back at me through His twinkling eyes. Our in-Christ-ness, our I-am-ness, our oneness and union—it’s huge! It’s the game changer!

Oh, and it sure beats doing the right thing because it is the right thing!

Love you
Lloyd

Lloyd Clark is an entrepreneur, a former pastor, and writer. He is passionate about being loved by our Heavenly Father and revealing that same love to everyone he meets. He and his wife Mary have 5 children and 7 grandchildren and live in North Carolina.

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE…