CAPA Corner: The Community That Loves

    Central, a “Community that Cares!”  Central truly is a caring community.  Consider all the non-profits that raise funds to assist others and all the businesses and citizens that give to support their efforts!  Well, what if we could kick it up a notch?  Would you be willing to add another title to our community?  What about the “Community that Loves”?  Consider the following:
John 13:34-35
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. NKJV
    Jesus offered a strong challenge to His disciples. The love commandment, quoted by the lawyer in Luke 10, stated to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus, in this passage in John 13, takes love to a higher level!  I am no longer to love others as myself but I am to love others as He loved us!  In John 15:13 Jesus goes on to say, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends!”  John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son!”
    How awesome it is to meditate about the love of God in this light, that He loved the whole world enough to give His son!  Then there is the depth of love that Christ manifested in that He died on the cross for you and me!  
    Most of us would boldly state our love for our family members and would be quick to come to their side.   Most parents would willingly admit to being able to comprehend the concept of laying of our lives down for our children. However, what about others we come across on a daily basis?  For example, those with whom you go to church, work alongside, and those you deal with regularly.  This is the challenge.  So much so, that the lawyer in Luke 10 sought to justify himself by asking, “Who is my neighbor?”  Jesus basically breaks it down to being everyone!  God didn’t love a particular segment of society, when He gave His son, He loved the whole world!  
    Now most of us would not consider breaking the commandment to not murder or steal.  However, how do we measure up in this area of sacrificial love?  It is so easy to let conflict, bitterness, and resentment stand in the way of us being able to accomplish God’s best.  Singer / Songwriter Jackie DeShannon, in 1969, wrote the song “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”  In her song she encouraged listeners to think of their fellow man, lend a hand, and put a little love in your heart.  Why?  Because the world would then be a better place!  How about it Central?   We are known as the community that cares.  We can make it even better if we remember that we are surrounded by “neighbors” and put some more love in our hearts!  We will not only be known as the “Community that Cares” for others but also as the “Community that Loves!”

Ron Erickson

Pastor, Future Hope Ministries