ARE YOU SHARING YOUR LIFE?

2 Thessalonians 2:8 
"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us."


This verse stopped me in my tracks recently. This is a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Thessalonica. Paul had mentored them and worked very closely with them to share the love of Christ and to help make them teachers and leaders in the faith.  

This verse takes me way back to when I {Mandy} was a teen. I had people in my life who were willing to love me and teach me about the love of Christ. They not only mentored me and taught me...they shared their lives with me. 

I can blog, write, talk, and "chat" all the live-long day. I have no problem taking dinners, gifting hand-me-down clothes to children, or even leading a Bible study--but when it comes to really, really sharing my life with others, I hesitate. In fact, I will often more than hesitate--sometimes I completely turn my back. 

Why?

The easy, accepted answer is because I'm very busy. It's no secret that I am a wife and I have 6 children, all under the age of 10. I homeschool 3 of them and I also teach at church and lead ministries. It's perfectly acceptable for me to be "busy". I can get by with the surface, "easy" things like I mentioned above and I seem like I am active in loving on others. 

But the truth is, when it comes to getting messy--real, invested, authentic, down to the nitty gritty--I choke. 

I get very uncomfortable about opening myself up to others and...to be truthful...to allowing others to open up to me. You see, when we allow someone to become vulnerable to us, it brings with it responsibility. When someone shares their heart with you, how do you walk away? Once you allow others to become vulnerable, you are invested. 

So here I find myself faced with a decision: allow others to open up to me and become invested in their lives, therefore requiring me to make an honest effort and love them like Christ OR keep everyone at a safe distance and never allow myself or them to share who they really are.

I wonder where we would be as a culture, as a church, and as a nation if we took the time to become truly invested in one another--to be vulnerable and to let others be vulnerable with us. 

What would our communities or even our world look like if we shared the gospel of Christ and also shared our lives? The greatest changes in my life were made through relationship. Sermons, articles, books, and blog posts can be very moving, but, by far, the greatest influence on my life has been in the safety and intimacy of relationship when we weren't afraid to get messy and when we took the time to really share our lives with one another. 

Even admitting the above, I still struggle with it...with getting real. Maybe it's because I have been burned in the past when I allowed myself to be transparent with the wrong people. Maybe someone took advantage of my willingness to shoulder their burden. Whatever it is, I can't allow past struggles to dictate how I minister and connect in the future. 

Today I am making an effort to really welcome people into my life. To allow them to see me for who I really am and to allow them to be who they are...and love them anyway. Even if things get messy, Christ can still be glorified and found in the middle of it. 


Will you join me?

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