By Kenneth Stepp
Have you ever wish you had super powers? I have. I believe everyone has. To be able to fly. Wow! That would be amazing. The greatest Superman envy ever. If you don’t think you can be like God, think again. You see it isn’t just how you see yourself, it’s how others see you. If you have a dog, you know what it feels like to be like God in someone’s eyes. If you have a Boxer dog. Well… Times ten that. People have, since the beginning of time, created their own gods. They craft some wood or metal into something and call it a god. But those gods can’t speak or move. The worshiper has to put it where it goes. In other words. It’s just an idol. A man made trinket, so where am I going here?
God. I mean capital G God. If you are an Atheist, stop reading now, or continue and learn. I am talking about the God I grew up with, my God. To be like Him. That sounds outlandish, doesn’t it? I believe He created me and that His DNA courses through my body. So because of this I know I can emulate Him in some ways. We are equipped to do this because we are His creation. Now let’s unwrap how these Godly traits could possibly be endowed to us mere mortals. Mother Teresa gave her life to those forgotten by the world. Sleeping on the streets of Calcutta doesn’t sound very Godly to most, it really wouldn’t to the wealth ministries out there. But to God’s followers I believe it does.
God is love, we’ve heard that our entire life. I know I have. So when we love someone unconditionally, we are, in fact, behaving like God. Very much like God. God is kind. Five years ago I read a quote from Billy Graham, it went something like this, “I’m going to just love them. And let the Holy Spirit judge them.” That hit me between the eyes. That day I ran into another quote. This one was by Mother Teresa. “You can’t love them if you judge them.” It was like an instruction manual on how to love. I vowed that day to never judge another human being. I’d like to say I win that every day, sadly, I do not, but I win it more often than not. A far cry from the old me. And sure enough, it changed my entire outlook. These days I find myself more loving, kinder than ever. When I meet a homeless person asking for money, I’ll donate a few bucks. Then I’ll ask them their name, I offer a smile. They may not have seen a smile or had anyone care about them for a very long time, my hope is it mattered to them as much as it did me.
Another thing not judging did for me, it helped me love others. That allowed me to put away my temporary view of life and focus on forever more. You see, God is infinite. So His view is on forever. Not plagued by “here and now” limitations. In other words. This change in my life gave me purpose. Sympathy for the human condition, whatever that may be. That gives us another ability that God has, authenticity. To see “things” as they are without seeing our fellow man as things. We live in a world infected by self centeredness or lack of self awareness. I’m not giving it a label so we can excuse it away, I’m giving it a name so we recognize it when it comes at us, and it will come at us. When you are faced with a loss by doing the right thing. Well… One day we will see doing the next right thing is always the right thing. Some days we are challenged though. And you won’t know what God had for you unless you do the right thing.
Kindness, real unconditional love, purpose, and doing what’s right. To be like God. You may not be able to fly or see into the future. But this side of Heaven, these are the Godly traits that make us as much like God as we can be. They make the world a better place too. To think, my journey began with a quote, “don’t judge”. It releases power in us that changes lives and most of all, us. On my nonprofit’s site I made up a quote myself. “Welcome to Angel’s Work. Where everyone is as important as anyone”. My goal is to live this every day. Imagine the world if just ten percent of us did this. Let’s change the world together… Love is free and love is freeing…
“Kindness… Spread that stuff everywhere”
Love your sincere and simple perspective regarding a powerful and life- changing concept. Since I found out about my Jewish DNA through King David and Batsheva I’ve been studying King David, the thing that puzzled me was the fact that G#D said David was a man after G#D’s own heart, so I decided to focus on that more, when we all think of David we think of him having an affair with Batsheva and having her husband killed, but David confessed His sin To Adonai, and Adonai forgave him, David focused on moving ahead not looking behind. He always strived to have the greater good in sight, he lived his human life to become one of the greatest kings in Israel ‘ s history. By dedicating his life to service of Adonai and people, he emulated G#D’s selfless character as well as G#D’s unconditional love. Something I admire and work to do daily.
David was used to show us many things in my opinion. He was rich, powerful, and had it all. He committed an outrageous sin, repented, and was forgiven. I believe God used his life to show us many things.