I was talking with a friend the other day who was asking for help in guidance for the direction of his life. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to DO!” He said. He really wanted to know what he was supposed to do! I’m sure many of you can relate.

As a missionary living in a foreign nation, oftentimes when I meet people on the field or in the USA, the first thing they ask is, “What do you do?” They want to know about our big, giant, intergalactic ministry. 🙂 My answer often surprises them, “We just love people.”

God has given us big dreams and a big vision that we are working towards. I remember asking the Lord one day,  “how do we accomplish all the dreams you have placed in our hearts?” I asked, “What do you want us to DO to get there?”

His answer, “Just love people.” 

“That’s it?!?” I replied. “There must be more than just that!”

“Nope. Just love people!”

His answer was profoundly simple and simply profound! After all, the name of our ministry IS Love International! Haha 🙂

The Bible tells us to Love your neighbor AS you love yourself. The problem is many of us don’t love ourself the way we ought to, and because of this, it is often difficult or impossible to love our neighbor. In order to truly love and value yourself, you must first understand how much God loves you! Without a true revelation of His great love for you, you will never truly value and love yourself as you should, and in turn be able to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

I have struggled with this at times and it usually shows up in my exercise (or lack thereof) and my poor eating habits. I can try to change my actions externally, but unless I first change my beliefs, the change is only temporary. I must know that I am worth loving and taking care of myself! The only way to do this is to spend time with Him and allow Him to love me!

So, the answer to my friend who wanted to know what to DO was this:
What you DO will flow out of who you ARE! Don’t focus so much on what you need to DO. You need to focus on becoming who God says you are, and the ‘doing’ will flow out of that.

So the question is not, “What am I supposed to do?” but the question is, “Who am I?”

Blessings!