WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD: Love with skin on!

While I am out of the country on a missions trip, I am re-posting some older posts. This post was initially posted on December 23, 2009.

Not long ago, I read a story about a little girl who was frightened during a storm. The little girl's mother came in to her room to comfort her but when the mother tried to leave, the little girl objected. The mother said to her, "It's alright honey. God is here with you". But her daughter said, "I know Mommy...but I want someone with skin on."


I am sure that all of you have heard that story as well, but I was thinking that this picture is one of what it is like when we forgive a brother or sister. Forgiving them helps them to see God "with skin on".

In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I asked the question, "When you are feeling guilty about something you have done to someone, what do you do?" The top 3 responses were:

1. 88% of those voting in the poll said that they just talk to the person.
2. 5% voted and said that they would "kiss up" to that person by saying nice things.
3. Another 5% polled said that they make amends in some other way.

No doubt, we have all done or said something that we later might feel guilty about. Sometimes this guilt keeps us from maintaining relationships with the ones that we love, and unfortunetly our guilt can even keep us from a fresh, daily walk with our Lord. Really what we are all looking for is "love" with "skin on it".

John said it best: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." (1 John 4:12)

I think what John is saying is that we, as God's children, have the ability to show one another what love is with "skin on". How much skin have you shared today?

This week for WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD, I have shared some thoughts on a study that I was doing on Jacob. When I came to the passage about Jacob wrestling with the angel, I wondered to myself just how many times I, as Gods daughter, wrestle with things such as guilt. Is it the guilt or the love of God that others see in me? I had to stop and ask God to help me show others what all His love covers.