galatians 6.10 (nlt), whenever we have the opportunity we should do good to everyone. ephesians 5.16 (ncv), use every chance you have for doing good. proverbs 3.27-28 (tev), whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now. if it’s good for neighbors it certainly applies to families too.
there are some activities in your life in which procrastination is a legitimate response because some things just aren’t that important and you ought to put them off. but since love is the most important thing in life, anytime you choose something else over a loving relationship you’ve just made a stupid decision. you’ve missed the point of life. you have made the wrong choice.
why? why is now the best time to express love? because you don’t know how long you’re going to get the opportunity to do it. circumstances change. people die. children grow up and leave home. you’re not guaranteed a tomorrow. if you’re going to express love you’d better do it now.
charles colson and george mcgovern are at opposite extremes in the political spectrum. in fact in the 72 presidential campaign of mcgovern versus nixon they worked on opposite sides. but they both ended up with the same regret.
chuck colson wrote, “as i think back out on my life my biggest regret is not spending more time with the kids. making family your top priority means going against the culture where materialism and workaholism are rampant. it means realizing you may not advance as fast in your career as some do. it means being willing to accept a lower standard of living knowing that you’re doing the right thing for your children, giving them the emotional security that they will draw on for the rest of their lives.” are you willing to make that financial sacrifice? or are things more important than people?
george mcgovern, one time presidential candidate, wrote a book about his daughter terry who died of alcoholism. in 1994 she was found frozen to death in a snow bank where she’d fallen in a drunken stupor. after his daughter died mcgovern poured over terry’s diaries and talked to all her friends trying to figure out what she was thinking and he discovered that he was not as good as father as he thought he’d been. while he was spending eighteen-hour days fighting for political causes his daughter terry was at home writing in her diary that she missed her daddy but he probably didn’t miss her because he probably didn’t care about her. mcgovern wrote in his advice to parents “show more love to your kids by spending more time with them especially during the adolescent years. no matter what it costs your career, that way neither of you will have regrets.” and he writes this, “i’d give everything i have and i mean everything for one more afternoon with terry, just to tell her how much i love her and have one more of those happy times that we used to have all too infrequently.”
just a thought from the front porch…
1 comment:
world without love is like the whole world become a desert which has no sign of greenery .
wonderful place lovely thoughts .take care
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