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A Higher Standard

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So going into my senior year and looking ahead to working at Crossroads, I've spent some time thinking about what my goal and vision are and should be. How do I want to spend these last weeks as a student at Hillsdale? How do I want to be able to be there for my Crossroads kids? My church? My family? My friends? Nathan? Well, I've finally put into words what God has been teaching me for the past, well, pretty much for my entire life.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Cor. 13:4-8

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." 1 John 3:16
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11
These are the standards by which we live. As one of my favorite songs states, "They will know we are Christians by our love." But what does that look like? How far do we have to go? Well, Christ is the standard, and he was crucified, so that is the standard. Not that we go out and look for opportunities to become martyrs. But that we hold nothing back to love, not only our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also, no, especially, those who do not yet know Christ. Now I know, this doesn't sound fair. In fact, it sounds exhausting. We are called to be more patient, more understanding, more hard-working. We are called to be the best the human race has ever seen. Scared yet? Well there is some good news in this.
"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." 1 John 4:15
We are not called to this alone or in our own strength. As a friend once said, "to hold your friends to a standard of unconditional love is unfair. Only God can do that." Yes! Exactly! And God living in you means you can do that through him and only through him. In fact, as I've learned through the combination of Crossroads and college, God will make sure it is impossible for you to meet that standard in your own strength. He will add obstacle after obstacle, just like Gideon, to ensure that His name alone is glorified. But that's what I'm called to do, right?
I have fifteen kids, countless friends from Kentucky, Iowa, and college, my family, Nathan's family, our Michigan family, our church family- all of whom I care about deeply. Has God allotted enough time in the day for me to be all of their best friends? No. But he has given me incredible passion and joy, not to mention himself, to help me to love all of them as deeply as possible. If I ever seem stressed, it's probably because I feel overloaded, but I will run the race to which God has called me, no matter the cost.
God has called me to go farther, to take risks, to love fully, to do everything in the strength of Christ and for the glory of God.
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