L.I.V.E. (part 2) *revisited*

** Continuation of reposting of the L.I.V.E. series. Posted originally January 2010**

L.I.V.E. (part 2)


One down, three to go. = )

Okay, so we learned the "L" in L.I.V.E. is "Love with mercy". That's a good start. Living life with love in your heart is a great beginning for this new year. Hopefully, it's causing you (and me too, of course) to look at people a little differently. (And no I do not have this down yet....I'm a work in progress). On to the next one,

"I". What could "I" possibly be? I mulled this one over a few times as I wasn't quite sure. There were two options but the more I thought/pondered/dwelled on it, I realized the one falls under the other one. ((drum roll please....)) "Invest yourself". ((hold the applause please...thank you)).According to www.dictionary.com, "Invest" can be defined as:

--to use, give, or devote (time, talent, etc.), as for a purpose or to achieve something

--to endow with a quality or characteristic

How do you 'invest yourself' and live life? It might help to review the opposite of "invest" which is "divest". Divest, according to www.dictionary.com, means you strip or deprive someone or something (e.g. withhold), or to rid of or free from (divest yourself of responsibility or withdraw). Looking at those meanings packs a whallop doesn't it? If someone is divesting themselves, that means they are stripping or depriving themselves of life; they are rid of or free from the things in their life. Huh? (keep reading)

A person who divests life is someone who is isolated from the world in general. They tend to be people who don't associate with others very often. Few friends you will find with a "divestor", if any at all. They spend most of their time alone, keeping others at bay. They do not allow themselves to find joy in much of anything. Looking at their past, you will often find a great deal of hurt either from a series of incidents or one major incidents. So as to prevent further hurt, there is a barrier around them that keeps others at bay. Instead of trying new things or experiencing new opportunities, "divestors" tend to find a place that's comfortable (i.e. home, job) and rarely venture outside of that zone. It's the same ol', same ol' all of the time. They have chosen to cut off the world as much as possible, thereby cutting themselves off from life.

WOW! That doesn't sound like a very fun place to be. If you ask me, that's not living; that's just existing. I don't know about you but I don't want to just exist. I want to LIVE life. Knowing that I don't want to be a "divesoer", and that part of living is "investing", how do I do that? Pretty simple when you think about it. In a sense, just do the opposite of what I "divestor" does. Let's look back at the definitions of "invest".

--to use, give, or devote (time, talent, etc.), as for a purpose or to achieve something

--to endow with a quality or characteristic

In order to use/give/devote your time/talent (or even yourself) to someone or something it has to be outside of your comfort zone. Comfort zone is a big thing when it comes to being an "investor". I remember about 8 years ago, I had been praying and reading my bible. As clear as day, I heard God tell me "It's time to get out of your comfort zone and into Mine". Whoa!!! That was a huge word for me. I would say in the next six months after that, I heard someone say or preach a sermon on that very topic. Not exactly what my word was but still talking about "comfort zones".

I like being comfortable. Kind of like all snug under a blanket, sipping hot cider (or hot cocoa if you so choose), next to a fireplace....that kind of comfortable. Don't tell me to move, I like being by the warm fire. BUT...when God tells you to get up out of your comfortable spot in front of the fire....well, you MOVE! There have been times when I know God has told me to do something and I did not want to; NO WAY. It was way beyond my capacity of comfort. I would fight it every step of the way...and be miserable for it. I hate the idea of it but I wound up hating myself for not even trying. When I finally did what God told me to do (i.e. get out of my comfort zone and into His), the pure joy and freedom I had is beyond measure. I was happy and that, in turn, brought happiness to my family. I invested myself into something God wanted me to and I can honestly say, I was LIVING life.

The steps you take may call you to use/give/devote your time for a particular thing. It could be serving at your local mission once a week or month. It could be to help the local 'Meals On Wheels' group delivering meals to shutins. Maybe it might require you to help out on that project your boss has been pestering you about for the last month. How about that neighbor that wants to have a joint garage sale? Helping out at your child's school for the big fundraiser?

Or, it could be as simple as taking someone out to a meal. Time is a great investment. By spending time with someone, you find a capacity for something beyond yourself. You learn to listen and communicate with that person. As time passes, what they see in you (the good qualities hopefully), they will learn to emulate that. You are investing the characteristics and qualities into that other person, just by investing your time. Time is precious, that is true. But if we are so worried about time, then isn't that worry just robbing us of life? Are we really living?

Are you an "investor" or "divestor"? Are you staying in your comfort zone? Or are you willing to get into God's comfort zone and LIVE? Which path do you choose?

Until next time,

RSPS Sunny