I live in East Tennessee. I used to live in Asheville, NC. These places are home to me, and the stories and photos from Western North Carolina and Upper East Tennessee are gut-wrenching to watch.

But there is something else I noticed as I watched. Our government may broken and corrupt, our world may be scary, but there are STILL LOTS of kind people and wonderful churches who are coming together to help others.

People are giving their time and their money. They are joining clean up crews, making food, and hiking in with supplies.

Some are risking their lives to wade through muddy, swollen rivers, climb power poles, and fly their own helicopters through treacherous terrain to help strangers who, right now, can’t help themselves.

And no, not all those who are giving, and helping, and risking their lives are Christians. I know that.

But I also know, and honestly needed to be reminded, that every person there, and every person we encounter, all of them, are created in the image of God (Gen 1:27)—a God who gives, and helps, and laid down His life so others might live (John 3:16).

And in this hard world, this evil world, this incredibly divided world, I needed to remember that again.

To be transparent, I needed to be reminded to keep seeing others as God sees them, and keep praying, and keep calling out the good things that God wants to do in and through others.

I love people, and I’m incredibly saddened by the stories of lives that were lost—the eye-witness accounts coming from those near us are horrific. The death toll is likely to go much higher.

But the thing is none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, tragedy can strike any of us in an instant. That’s sobering.

But as long as we have tomorrows, as long as we have todays, let’s love others.

And Christians, let’s absolutely endeavor to be known first and foremost by our love.(1 Cor 13:1-3).

Let’s be serious about reflecting the image of the One whose image we were made to bear to a world that so desperately needs Him.

loveothers

reflectChrist

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