The Power of "How Are You?"

"How are you?"
… three one-syllable words. Not showy, not particularly profound. But, believe it or not, even these three little words can make a huge impact on a life. We live in a world of fallen humans who are inherently selfish. Ironic, isn't it, that God takes these incredibly selfish, proud little creatures called humans, makes them new creations in His power and love, and then says "okay, now I want you to go out there and love others. By this--genuine love for others--the world will know whether or not you're Mine."

…true Love, if you haven't noticed, hinges on selflessness. It is selflessness. Love also hinges on action. Love is no love at all if not coupled with loving action.
God is asking us to look, to step beyond ourselves and see His creations as He sees them and try to love them like He loves them. Seems like a pretty tall order, right? But lucky for us, it doesn't necessarily require sacrificing huge amounts of our time and energy to show Christ's love to others. You can do right here, today, it in three simple words:

"How are you?"*

These three words, asked genuinely and coupled with listening and caring** about what the answer is, can touch a person profoundly. Most people, I've found, talk about themselves 99% of the time. So when a human steps beyond their favorite subject--themselves--to ask, invite and really listen to what you care about and how you've been coping with this thing called Life, it's truly touching. It shows that you were thinking about them. That you care** about them. But most importantly, it shows them that there's something different about you… that there's Someone in your life who says "this person is important to Me, they should be important to you too."

So I challenge you today, anybody who reads this, just take five minutes to ask someone in your life--could be anyone, anywhere--"how are you?" and give them the time of day. Asking more, appropriate questions based on their answer or about things you know they're involved in gets you bonus points. Using their answer to ultimately talk about yourself equals FAIL.

You're Christ's hands and feet to those around you. Show them how much He cares.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

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*Acceptable variations: How are you doing lately? Coupling this with a question about something you know they're involved in = serious brownie points. ;)

**sometimes you won't care. At least not right away and very deeply. But sometimes we have to do something because it's right before we "feel" it. We're to imitate Christ so trying is the first step. Do it.