Always Love, Hate Will Get You Every Time.

So this is it...my first blog. And to be honest, I can't think of any other way to begin this experience, than sharing my major "aha" moment that God provided me this week. It was absolutely much needed.

As a Christ-follower, I struggle with the same things that most people at my age do. Being 22 and being Christian makes NO exception to the struggles, temptations, pressures that this world provides me with. One of the major struggles I had as a child that I usually do not face these days, involves hatred. I've made the attempts to never say "hate" in any circumstance. You may be thinking "Jamie, just because you don't say it does not mean you do not feel it."....Well, actually, after not thinking about the word, and by God's helping hand, I verrryyy rarely feel any form of hatred....

Until recently. There was just a place in my heart that was vulnerable, and was being attacked. Without going into specifics, I had slowly formed hatred for someone whom I have not even met. I convinced myself that God would understand why I was angry towards this person in this particular situation, and I made up every excuse in the book to stop forming negative thoughts about this person. It got to the point where, I felt God give me peace about the situation...including peace about being angry with the person. What I thought was God's peace, was not God's peace at all...it was my poor excuse to just swim in this bitterness.

But that's not me. That bitterness is not what God had intended to consume my being. At all.
I began to pray about the whole situation, and then just stopped thinking about it, as a whole. It was working for me. Really. But that does not mean I did not "hate" this person any less.

Moving on....

Driving to work today, my iTouch was on shuffle for the songs I had purchased. And "Always Love", a song by Nada Surf (an Indie band) but re-done by a Christian band called Addison Road, began playing. I immediately hit "next" on my iTouch, because I had honestly heard that song WAY too many times. I was just over it. But I felt God stir in my heart to really listen to that song again. I was hesitant because I've honestly heard it so many times.

Now before we go on, let me state, I do have a tattoo on the top of my back of the lyrics to this song. I got it in college, when I thought the song was awesome, before I was 100% dedicated to God. The song is not secular, but later on, when I began opening my heart to God again, I found a verse that would match perfectly to it. The tattoo says "Stay True. Always Love. Hate Will Get You Every Time"...and the verse that backs the song lyrics up is 1 Corinthians 16:14 "Let all that you do be done in love."...

Okay, now we're back. The song begins playing, and the lyrics are not really catching my attention until the chorus begins playing....

Always love. Hate will get you every time.
Always love. Don't wait til the finish line.
Always love. Hate will get you every time.
Always love....even when you want to fight it.

Wow. I listened to that and thought...hmm...the ultimate Author of true love is offering me a sense of peace and advice. To always love, no matter what. He introduced love to the world, and what would I be doing if I did not share it to everyone. In my heart I felt God saying...

"Jamie, this person needs your love. And by love, I mean not just showing it..but sincerely feeling it."

Whooooaaa there God...you're kinda asking a lot. I always felt that my spiritual gifts were love and encouragement. And loving people has come easy for me, because I have a passion for others. But, this person? Are you sure God?!

"Jamie, this person needs your love...and by love, I mean show her My love through you."

Alright, it's starting to make sense now. Then I just started laughing, honestly, in my car alone.
I immediately felt gratification & love overwhelm me. I was called into this world to show love to everyone, and feel the truth behind it. What an "aha" moment.

Thank you God, for sincerely reminding me of this. And seeking His guidance to help me through this journey.


-Jamie.