Rut, Rot or Revival by A.W. Tozer. Both are great books so far,
convicting me of what I am doing with my life, both physically
and spiritually.
What I ran into while reading is how I'm loving those around me.
To tell you the truth, I'm a bit mean to those who are.... creepy,
for a lack of a better word. My love for them can get (and maybe
already is) very thin and small. However, what I am showing to
people I mentioned is not love at all; in fact, it is false affections
towards them. The best example of love is what God has given us
through Christ. The great sacrifice given to us so that we might
be able to fully enjoy and love the God who saved us (paraphrasing
John Piper's book). If this is love, then I'm not reaching that love.
The sacrifice I need to make is my pride of thinking that I'm better
than how these people act. The sacrifice I need to make is to not be
impatient with the actions of these people.
I've been awakened from one state of sleep that may have been
putting me and my spiritual growth at risk. The example that Tozer
used is that when people write about missionaries who risk their
lives, he calls the writers, who are in a spiritual state of sleep. out.
He says that "they can talk endlessly about wonderful Dr. A.B.
Simpson (or other famous missionaries), but they will not go
Simpson's way." I talk and know about God's love, yet I'm not
following that same path as He has. Actions do speak louder
than words.
