There is a lot made out of people’s gifting, abilities, and talents. I’ve been around environments where there has been continual flattery for what one can do and accomplish based off of previous experiences. It’s nice to value what people offer, but who they are can often take a backseat to what they can do for us.

We objectify people. I do it. I have done it in the past and I am sure that it might happen again in the future. I don’t intend for this to take place, but I often find myself making phone calls and contacting people in order to get something done that they do well. I don’t always call and message someone to reconnect with them and be relational, I do it to get a task done that needs work. And herein lies the problem, I work for a relationally driven ministry!

I have to be intentional about fostering and building and maintaining relationships with those that are closest to me. If it involves a project or a task, I need to put down the type-A, driven side of me and simply ask to see how someone is doing. I need to be deliberate on connecting with the people that I do ministry with on an ongoing basis. I’m getting better at this – relating and connecting and loving on people just because and nothing more!

The heart of the matter of all of this is love. Love is more than a feeling, it is a decision and a choice a times. This is particularly true with things and people that won’t always love you back! Without love, it doesn’t matter how talented one is, they have nothing, they are nothing, and they gain nothing. Paul writes about this in his first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 13, he writes about how the spiritual gifts are meaningless without the roots of love that fuel the effectiveness of the gift.

It’s true, right? Have you been around gifted people that have lacked love? What’s the overall opinion of those situations? For me it is all a show, a spectacle. Love is the motivator and the catalyst for the effectiveness of our gifts and abilities and talents. Let’s use them for redemptive and Kingdom gain rather than for self or to simply fulfill a task. Let’s be motivated and made by love that is unconditional! After all, what’s the alternative? Noisy nothingness… That is what lies before us without love.

So.., go love in people today. I will be doing the same. Let’s be intentional about relationships and put down the tasks at hand in order to foster this goal. Love on the unlovely in your life. You might be surprised by how many people’s lives you’ll impact.

Go get ‘em!

Jay