Overwhelmed With Love

I watched this last night and was struck by the truth he spoke which made me remember the words of one of my favorite poets, Maya Angelou.

‘People will forgot what you said.
People will forget what you did.
But people will always remember how you made them feel.”

That’s it.. so simple and so pure, yet so hard for so many of us.

While all that is going on with the world today it’s easy to think we are right and others are wrong.. dead wrong. It’s easy to pass judgement and throw stones and make remarks… It’s harder to overwhelm people with love, which is what we are supposed to do

“The way we make people feel”

Tears roll down my cheeks even as I write these words.

How have I made people feel? Have they felt overwhelmed with love or do they feel as if I’m putting them down, pointing my finger, bashing their choices?

I know how I’ve been made to feel

I have felt excluded.
I’ve felt condemned.
I’ve felt isolated.
I’ve felt hurt .

And you know how I’ve chosen to react? By going into a safe place and choosing to guard my heart, to create peace and to love my way .

But that’s not what is really best in so many ways because I tend to go to extremes.

I build walls.
I make excuses.
I hurt others.

Not intentionally, of course, but in building the walls, I shut out people that might need extra love and compassion, in making excuses, I withhold invitations and don’t accept them neither and in my way of protecting my own heart from hurt, I wind up hurting others.

“You may be right, but your approach is not right.”

I let this sink in..I hope you do, too.

We should speak and live the truth in such a way that it’s overwhelmed with love.

Because it doesn’t matter how right if we don’t have love. It doesn’t matter what we say, what matters is how we make others feel.

Do they feel loved?
Do they feel welcomed?
Do they feel accepted?
Do they feel valued and respected?

People will forget what you post on Facebook and social media, people will forget what you worn, what you drove, whether you did this or not… But people will always, always remember how you made them feel .

So whether I’m right or wrong, I want people to feel love … coming from me, coming from God, because He loved me so much and He says very clearly,  “love one another as I have loved you.”

He doesn’t say,

“Love those that do the same things you do’
Or ” Love those that are right.”
Or ” Love those that are just like you.”

No.

He says ” Love like I do”

No matter what. Period.

Right or wrong.

Love .

Overwhelming love.

That’s always the right approach… Kinda like Jesus wants us to be.

#walkwithlove #writingmyheartout #myownwords