Why is it so Hard for Me?

It is difficult to explain the thoughts that consume my head when I see men lusting after, or disrespecting women. I feel disgusted, angered, sad...but none of which bring about thoughts like, "Oh, that guy needs the gospel!", or "Wow, maybe I should get a Christian brother to go talk to him!". In other words, my heart is definitely not broken for them. How sad is that? If the guy I observe isn't saved, where is my compassion? Was I not a slave to sin myself before Jesus saved me? If it is a concern over respect for women, does it just offend me because I think I deserve to be treated a certain way, or does it offend me because they are truly hurting another person's feelings? How interesting that these questions are just now making their grand appearance in my thought processes! I know I will never be able to say that going to a place like a bikini bar is okay, (unless for the purpose of evangelism)....but I do want to say that my attitude towards people who go into places like that is not okay. 

So, how do I love that person when my immediate reaction to their sin is disgust? How do I change that good ole, Americanized feminist mindset of "all guys are pigs"? My disturbance over their disrespect turns into an immediate disrespect for them, which helps no one, and becomes hypocrisy. Fortunately, here in this blessed county of the United States of America, I can remember and look to God's word! :D  

1 John 1:6 says, "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."I had to mention this verse because it reminded me of my own depravity. "No darkness at all."...meaning, the sins that I struggle with every day still separate me from fellowship with God; it is equal to a man's lust. 

1 John 4:7-8 continues with, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." OUCH! How convicting is that?! If I claim to be saved, I better be loving that person who just "offended" me! The Holy Spirit living in me should make love an easy option if I would just stop and listen for once! 

The message of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ needs to be the central focus, main idea...actually, our entire life purpose! 

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:9-11

I did not love God first. I was never capable of doing so. The Lord gave Himself to me. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10). If I was truly wanting what He wants, I would have passionately wanted that person to be saved!  

I hope next time I see an "unpleasant" facebook post, or hear a sin-filled conversation, or feel disrespected myself, I cry tears of sorrow for those people's lost souls and enslavement to sin. I pray that my life would reflect Christ and the love He has shown me, and that He would humble me more each day. I walk in light, so may that light be bright enough for other people to see it...

Come, Oh Lord. Maranatha.