A Little Love...

Abby and I have been going through a discipleship book during our time Mexico titled A Solas con Dios, the most recent chapters have focused on the commandments to love God and others, which includes both believers and non-believers. The importance of this message was profoundly illustrated to us as we finished up our grocery shopping last night.

While loading our prize purchases into the van a guy who worked at the store asked in his best, bad English, "Me help you?"

"No thanks" I said, "I can do it." (How dumb!), thats what I thought as the guy, a bit dejected, walked away. Why didn't I allow him to help me? This was a basic principle of being on the mission field, accepting help from those you are ministering to.

Thankfully he was back as soon as the cart was empty to put it away for me and he asked me if I was a Mormon. Whoa! "No" I said, "are you?"

He was. Unfortunately, to him the fact that I was a white guy living in this part of Mexico meant I must be Mormon too. It's a shame that Mormons are hard at it all over the world while most Christians never leave their home state...but that's not the point. As he began to rant about Joseph Smith and some rocks, Abby and I explained to him with truth and love that Joseph Smith hadn't translated correctly and this along with other reasons made him a false prophet. The look in the guys eyes was heart breaking as we told him that what he was told was false. What broke our hearts even more was when he said,

"I believe them because they showed me love."

I had refused his offer of help because of my independent nature. I failed to realize that the Christian life is not about doing it on your own but about helping others and allowing them to help you. But most of all the Christian life MUST be about showing love.

"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the appeasment for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another." 1 John 4:10-11