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Today we had our fourth ramp ceremony since I've been here. That means we've had at least four soldiers die since I've been here. Here on this FOB (forward operating base) we have approximately 2500 soldiers total at any given time. Now take the 3 months I've been here and the number of four and what you have is some great odds. Take any number of people out of 2500 in the states and if only 4 die, wow that is a tremendous amount of good fortune. Honestly in this environment, you'd expect the numbers to be so much higher. All you have to do is look at the news and all you see is the killing. However what you don't see is the things we do in this county.
Did you know that when I was in the hospital our troops saved the life of an insurgent. There is no bigger knot in your stomach then to save the life of someone who is trying to kill you or your fellow troops. What would you do if you were you that had to save the life of an enemy? Now you may say I'm a Christian and I don't have an enemy, now come on lets be honest. There is someone or something out there you don't like. Whether it's a certain type of person or a person in general. I know we aren't suppose to "not like" anyone but again lets be real about this. When 9/11 happened what was your feeling against the Muslim community? You don’t have to tell me your answer, but I'll be honest to say I looked at folks from the middle east with a little hate in my heart. God knows what you were thinking, he knows how you felt.
Here is one of the biggest scriptures that I struggle with and I'm sure you do too. Romans 13:9, "The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' ' Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule:'Love your neighbor as yourself'". Now love your neighbor as yourself we teach it to our kids but do we practice it? Do we really love our neighbor as our self. What about if someone did something to your child that was just un-excusable? Do you still love that person as yourself? Take for example not too long ago in the news the Amish community was affected tragically with the loss of some of their children. A man went to a school house and killed several children, so what does the Amish community do? They forgive the man that did the killing. What if someone cheated you in some way, do you still love them? What if someone takes a troops life and you have to save theirs? Do you give them the same care? What happens if you do give them the same care?
Luke 6:35, "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." So if we love our enemies and show them the love our reward will be what exactly? Great, hmmm, how to define that. I don’t think it needs a definition, I think to define it would be taking away from God's plan for us. I know that everyone that reads this has their own idea of what Heaven will be like. So what if we don’t love our enemies as our self?
Does God punish us for not loving your neighbor as yourself? Most would say no, some would say yes. I would say, do we get punished…yes but does God punish us, no, however we do punish ourselves. Hebrews 12: 7-11 "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate children at all. Moreover, we have all had parents who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! Our parents disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." When we punish ourselves we are proving to God and to others that we lack discipline. I think without discipline we have no faith and without faith we have no discipline. How else are we going to fight off temptation? You have to have discipline in your life to do the right thing. Look at children that come from homes with no discipline. If you do that I'm sure there is a high percentage that end up in Jail or just in trouble in general.
So if we swing this back around, do you love your neighbor as yourself? Do you give them the same love you'd give yourself? How many folks do you help on a daily basis? Do you give God the time of day on any other day but Sunday or Wednesday? Are you being disciplined in your Faith? I hope this finds you encouraged to show the love that God shows you daily.
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