“I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it for me!” Matthew 25:40 NLT'
I once remember seeing a picture or poster of a homeless man lying in a dirty gutter holding a bottle in a paper bag by his side. It brought back memories of growing up with an alcoholic father. For many years I struggled with the thought of that person being much like my dad. And, I had to come to grips with all the emotions inside of hurt and shame. But, at the bottom of that picture was a quote from Mother Teresa that helped me look a little differently at my father, who has been gone now for over forty years, which read, “You love Jesus only as much as the person you love the least.”
For all that we don't understand about the life of Jesus and the true nature of God, there is one truth that He made completely clear. The Christian faith is about service and humility. It's about helping those who can't help themselves. It's about loving others more than we love ourselves…even those who are the most unlovable among us.
What is the sign of true followers? Is it the amount of knowledge that we have? Is it the money we give to missions? Is it the number of degrees we've earned? Or, the number of people we've preached to? Is it the hours we've spent worshiping in church? Or, the number of books we've read? According to Jesus, the sign of the saved is their love for the least.
I remember an story that was told of when Francis of Assisi left his wealth behind to seek God, he stripped naked and walked out of the city. I thought that was a little over the top, but that was Francis. The first person he encountered on his journey was a leper on the side of the road. He first passed by him,…then he paused…and, turned back. He embraced the leper in his arms before continuing his journey. A few steps down the road he turned and saw that the leper was gone. Until his dying day, Francis of Assisi was convinced that the leper was Jesus.
You know,…even if he was wrong,… he was right.
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