1 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)
The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure
heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Rose Kennedy, the mother of the late President, once
attended a Bible Study and she shared how she came to peace with God after being
resentful of Him for giving her a retarded daughter.
"I was boiling over with resentment. There was a
lovely woman who was one of our maids. She sensed my boiling soul.
'Please excuse me, Mrs. Kennedy; but I've been watching
you the last few weeks. I love you very much, and I hate to see this destroy
your life. I say this as gently as I know how: Mrs. Kennedy, you'll never be
happy until you make your heart a manger where the Christ child may be born.'
"I fired her on the spot! You have no idea how filled with anger, how
isolated, how focused on doubt I became..
"That night, my mind ruminated relentlessly, keeping
me awake until the late hours. I could not forget that lovely face, the
sweetness of her countenance, the sub-surface joy that seemed to boil up
continually in her spirit . And especially those deathless words: 'Mrs.
Kennedy, you'll never be happy until you make your heart a manger where the
Christ may be born.' "I have loved Christ all my life, and tried to be a
good Catholic girl all my years; but this was one of those joyous moments of
real contact with God and his Son. So I knelt beside my bed and prayed, 'Dear
God, make my heart a manger where the Christ child may be born.' I felt a fresh
new divine entry into my life, and there was born in me a passion, a love for
retarded children. Oh, by the way, I rehired the lovely maid. She was with us
for years, until her death."
The Lord will allow many different circumstances to come
into our lives. Each one of them will be an opportunity to love only as Christ
can love.
Dear Lord, thank you for the circumstances we find ourselves
in each day. Help us look at them as opportunity to show Your love. In Jesus’
Name, Amen.
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