The Way You Live Matters

On the morning of Valentine’s Day, I went on a long trail run. When I looked up through the trees, I saw that an airplane had drawn a heart in the sky.

A heart up in heaven–It felt like a reminder of God’s love, and it filled my own heart with joy.

As I continued to look upward, Romans 5:8 came to mind. The verse later showed up in the sermon of my church’s next service in what I don’t see as a coincidence.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

~ Romans 5:8, ESV

Romans 5:8 is a picture of perfect love, coming to us in our own messy state, coming to us “while we were still sinners.” It is a picture of God’s love, flawless and complete–so different from human love.

Because while human love has broken promises that lead to broken hearts and empty words that lead to empty hearts, perfect love offers something different:

It points to the broken bread and the broken body, the empty cup and the empty tomb, and tells you that this was all meant to heal your heart.

Out of the love of His perfect heart, God sent Jesus to heal our human hearts.

And as I considered this, I realized that we are called to represent such love. No, we will never represent God’s love perfectly, but it is through His love for us that we can show each other even a fraction of the same kindness.

“We love because he first loved us.”

~ 1 John 4:19, ESV

Lately I’ve been thinking about how important it is to try representing that love well.

I go to a Christian private school, and one of the best parts is getting to walk around with a label at track meets. “Christian” is in our school name, whether my schoolmates and I choose to act like it or not. My schoolmates and I are representatives of Christ, whether we’re choosing to act like Him or not.

Yes, it’s a lot of pressure, but it’s also such a blessing.

Because I get to show other people God’s love.

I get to draw a heart in someone else’s sky.

If the way I act in my school’s track uniform is enough for me to turn track and field into my mission field, I don’t want to take that opportunity for granted.

We all have a similar opportunity, my readers. The way we choose to live matters. I once had a youth leader say to me, “Sometimes you’re the only Bible someone is ever going to read.”

Let’s live in a way that will let others read the truth.