Live It Out

Live It Out

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Isaiah 58:6-7

The Blind Side is an amazing movie of how a family in Memphis, TN lived out this very scripture. It’s a story of how God asked their family to do something very specific for Him. Of course Hollywood doesn’t get into all the “God stories”, but you understand that their beliefs play an important role as to why a very wealthy white family with two kids chose to take in a homeless African American teenage boy.

I remember when I saw this movie in the theater I was moved.  The movie was touching, but what moved me most was what happened as I exited the theater. A couple behind me started talking about the film. The lady said this, “I like the story line. But it’s hard for me to believe that somebody would do that for somebody else. Taking in a stranger? Really?”

Have believers become so much like the world, that when scripture is lived out, it is so far from the norm - that others find it hard to believe?

Christians would agree that ALL believers are required to “love” our neighbor (found in Leviticus & several time in the New Testament). Now surely you know that “neighbor” doesn’t mean the person literally living right next door to you. Jesus is talking about mankind in general. So, how do we do that? You see, the AWESOME thing about God’s Word is that yes – He is totally specific as to how we are to live. BUT – He wants to be even more specific and tell you step by step, “Ginger, this is how I want YOU, and You alone, to love your neighbor….” If we really desire to be all that God created and planned for us to be – we must do our part in looking into His Word, finding these specific callings He has for believers and then say, “OK, Lord, How do you want me to live this out?”

Above in Isaiah, we see specific ways to show our devotion to Christ and our love for others. He lists 9 ways that we can show a lost world that we are different from the world:

1) loose the chains of injustice
2) untie the cords of the yoke
3) set the oppressed free
4) break every yoke
5) free the enslaved
6) feed the hungry
7) shelter the homeless
8) clothe the naked
9) acknowledge kinships (taking care of family)


Freeing the enslaved, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked……etc, as a believer – this should be a way of life for us!  It should not be odd to live this way on a daily basis! But, to the world ----- it is. However, doing these things WITHOUT THE LOVE OF CHRIST is just a humanitarian effort.  Anyone can feed the hungry but only HE can provide living water.

Have you ever prayed and asked God how He wanted you to live out any of these?  My friend Jen Gash has. She is the founder of Sweet Sleep--an organization that builds beds for orphans around the world.  www.sweetsleep.org  God wants her to live a life devoted to the care for orphans. He has asked our family to open our home to the fatherless. Another friend of mine each month keeps twenty one dollar bills in her purse to give to various homeless people she sees on her way to work.  She now knows them by name and has found this as a powerful way to minister.

How are you living out God's love?