Valentine's Day reflection on love

Colleen Tronson, director of Metro Women's Center in Crystal, MN writes:

As we approach Valentine's Day with all its talk of love, we have to ask ourselves, "Do we really love our clients?" I would say for the most part, humanly, we do. But do we love them enough to tell them the truth about their sin in relation to sexual activity outside of marriage, about the sin of abortion, about their need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

As I am writing this, I am asking myself, "What about my own sinfulness apart from God's grace in my life?" OUCH! As we confront our own need of grace from the Lord when we fail, I pray that we will extend that grace to our clients. While we need to have confrontation, it needs to be done with great love and care. We ask God for boldness in witnessing--not boldness to bang someone over the head with the biggest Bible we can find--but surgical boldness, to get to the heart of the matter using God's Word (Hebrews 4:12)

I heard someone once say, "There is great wisdom in knowing when to use a flyswatter and when to use a cannon." I have been grateful that the Lord hasn't given up on me and that people have been patient and longsuffering-more than I deserve at times! Many of our clients have been rejected by Christians because of their past choices, and it has made them leery of exposing their hearts for fear of rejection. This keeps them from the help they desperately need. I pray that as we go forward, we will be approachable, grace-filled, welcoming representatives of God's love for our clients.