Day 9, The love Dare: Love Makes Good Impressions

Love Makes Good Impressions

Greet one another with a kiss of love. –1 Peter 5:14

Today’s Dare: Love Makes Good Impressions. Greet someone today in a new way that lets them feel valued and appreciated and determine to greet everyone you meet with kindness. 

You know what the hardest thing about The Love Dare is? Doing it as a single means NOBODY is doing it with you.  That means when you’re “dying to yourself,” and “putting other people’s needs above your own,” and LAYING UNDER EVERY SPEEDING BUS THAT ROLLS YOUR WAY, nobody else is reciprocating. It’s just you.  And it gets very frustrating. And it’s also called “Christianity,” LOL, and that’s the path I've voluntarily chosen.

As Christ said, in Matthew 5:46-48, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 I am learning that there are circumstances in which you can and should defend yourself in a godly way. There are also circumstances in which, for the sake of peace and out of sincere love, you should just let that bus run you over.  The Holy Spirit will tell you what battles to fight and what battles are His alone to forge.  Life is hard. LOVE is hard. Being a Christian that’s really about that life is HARD. But we “can do all things through Christ that strengthens me”!

Let’s roll this bus on to day 9!

Reading today’s assignment might have been the first one that really gave me pause. For the first time, it was really in my face how skewed I have allowed the reflection of my feelings towards other people sometimes. Why have I never noticed that when I greet a distant friend or any other relative that I always greet them with love? 99% of the time, I greet them with a kiss and a hug and yet, for those I am close too…. none of that.

The Bible has more to say about greetings than you might expect.  The apostle Paul took time to encourage his readers to greet one another warmly when they met.  In fact, near the end of his letter to the Romans, he asked fellow believers to greet twenty-seven of his friends and loved ones for him. He even took time to list each one by name.

It’s not just about your friends, however.  Jesus noted in His Sermon on the Mount that even pagans speak kindly to people they like.  That’s easy for anyone to do.  But He took it a step further and said that being godly included being humble and gracious enough to address even your enemies with kindness.

When someone communicates that they are glad to see you, your personal sense of self-worth increases.  You feel more important and valued.  That’s because a good greeting sets the stage for positive and healthy interaction. Like love, it puts wind in your sails.

More often than not familiarity can breed complacency. Back home, sometimes  my dogs are usually the happiest people to see me when I get home. Without fail they come up to me with their tails wagging, bottoms wiggling and big doggy smiles on their faces. It doesn't matter if I have been gone for a week or at the store for an hour. People need to be more like dogs. This is my resolution when it comes to my greeting others.

Remember, love is a choice.  So choose to change your greeting.  Choose love.