Lovers

I was given the gift of gab, but I think it was a gag gift. It's not the kind of easy, sweet flowing gab that people wish they had, like the kind that makes it so easy to mingle with others at parties. I was given the awkward and often impulsive gift of gab. It makes me nervous, yet my nervousness causes it.

I dread situations where I have to participate in small talk. That may be why (or one of the many reasons) I have such a hard time with relationships that stay on a surface level. I had rather have five friends that know me on a deeper level than a hundred that just want to hang out. There's freedom in talking with people who understand you. You don't have to make sense all the time; you don't have to say everything perfectly because the listener understands what you actually mean. You don't feel the pressure of filling those awkward, seemingly-forever moments of silence. Unfortunately, finding friends who understand you is sometimes hard, but sometimes you don't even have to be that close and the freedom of understanding just spills all over the table like a silky veil of love. It's that love that makes it easier.

I'm talking about the love of Jesus. The love that unites us in him; the love that gives us a common sharing of the spirit; the love that brings us together as one mind. (Philippians 2) When love is on the table you don't have to worry about every word being perfect. You can just talk, about the good and the bad days in your lives, and revel in the joy that love brings you. The best thing about conversing with a fellow lover of Christ is that you never feel like you have to tuck him away in your back pocket. Lovers of Christ love to talk about him!

Notice, I didn't say "believers" of Christ love to talk about him, I said "lovers" of Christ. Many are believers but less are lovers. He wants us all to be in love with him, to desire him, to ache to be with him. Just as a parent can brag on their child endlessly, lovers of Christ can bring him into every subject without it feeling strained or it sounding pretentious. Conversing with fellow Jesus lovers takes my nervousness away. Yes, I still fall into that impulsive habit of filling those awkward silent moments with words...but when you're talking with someone who loves him like you do, something happens...all those words relate back to him somehow, and that makes every word worth it. Then there becomes a satisfaction in those silent moments. They change from being awkward to being quiet moments to reflect and gather your words, without the pressure of needing to be filled.

Thank you, Jesus, for making fellowship with one another one of the many joys we have in you and thank you for never failing to provide my need for that fellowship! 

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind." Philippians 2:1-2

*Philippians 2 always reminds me of the U2 song One. A lot of people hear the downfall of a romantic relationship in the song. I hear disappointment in a believers relationship with the church or another fellow believer, just as Paul is talking about in Philippians 2 our relationship with each other. This last portion of the lyrics is what makes me think to reference it.

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other