The following
poem is my
prayer:
Lord reduce me
to love,
The love that’s
from above.
Let there be
nothing left
inside of me,
Except Your
love, for others
to see.
I pray Your love
shines so
bright,
That others are
attracted to the
light.
That we may all
have love for
each other,
And not hide
continually
under cover.
Reduce, refine,
workout the
changes,
To be made until
we are
blameless.
A church without
blemish or spot
Is what Your
blood has
bought.
You paid by
dying on the
tree,
Long ago at
Calvary.
For believers,
You promise to
return,
For that day we
all yearn.
Until then,
Reduce Me to
Love...
June 1, 2001
It’s been on my
heart lately to
really work on
my love walk. To
be Jesus in the
skin in this
world. I allow
my pride and
impatience to
get in the way
many times. I’m
always in such a
hurry, I don’t
really need to
rush anywhere, I
just want to be
efficient. I
have that type
of personality.
I’m a person who
can be thinking
about one thing,
talking on the
phone about
another, and
writing
something
completely
different. I am
efficient. This
leads to
impatience and I
know that
impatience is a
manifestation of
pride.
Pride shows
itself in my
life these ways:
(1) impatience,
like I already
pointed out; (2)
being critical
or judgmental,
someone is not
doing something
as well as I
think they
should, or as
well as I think
I could; (3)
being late
frequently, I’m
important, they
will wait for me
before they
start; (4)
arrogance, being
insensitive to
other people.
I’m sure that
pride shows up
in many other
ways, conceit,
bragging,
haughtiness,
etc. But, pride
in my life is
mostly this list
of four. I don’t
really mean to
be cold or
insensitive; I
just come off
that way because
of my impatience
and that drive
that’s in me to
be perfect and
efficient.
I’m reminded of
Mark 8:22-25
“And they came
to Bethsaida.
And (people)
brought to Him a
blind man and
begged Him to
touch him. And
He caught the
blind man by the
hand and led him
out of the
village; and
when He had spit
on his eyes and
put His hands
upon him, He
asked him, Do
you see
anything? And he
looked up and
said, I see
people, but
(they look) like
trees, walking.
Then He put His
hands on his
eyes again; and
the man looked
intently (that
is, fixed his
eyes on definite
objects), and he
was restored and
saw everything
distinctly (even
what was at a
distance).
I’ve been seeing people that look like trees lately, I find myself looking right past them or through them. I am not focused on definite objects, I am focused on what task I am doing at the time. I see many people daily in my job, and I’m not being sensitive to them as people. I’m not being Jesus in the skin and I’m not walking in love, I am just doing my task.
