Tuesday, March 18, 2008

When you show LOVE, you show God to the world....

excerpt from Joel Olsteen's book, Become a Better You!!!

Victoria and I went to a restaurant where we had eaten a number of times before. We practically knew the menu by heart, and we knew exactly what we wanted. When we sat down, we ordered right away. I was hungry, but it seemed to take forever for the cooks to prepare our food. We waited and waited. It didn't make sense. The restaurant wasn't even busy. When the waitress finally brought the food, our order was incorrect. She returned my dinner to the kitchen, and it was another long delay. Finally, I got tired of waiting and began eating off Victoria's plate. It was the worst service that we'd ever had in that restaurant.

When it came time to pay the bill and leave a tip, I thought, God, now you just say what happened. And I know that you're a just God. Surely, you don't expect me to leave a good tip.
Almost immediately, I knew I was wrong. I said, "Okay, God; how about five percent?"
Let me tell you a secret. Don't ever negotiate with God, because you will never win. I said, "Okay, God, how about ten percent, fifteen percent? That's the normal amount. God, you know that's the going rate. I should be able to do that." But I still didn't have any peace. I knew God was saying, "Don't miss this opportunity to do good. Don't miss this opportunity to show MY MERCY." We can be good to people when they're good to us. That's easy. But God wants us to be good to people even when they're not so good to us.

I eventually changed my attitude and thought, I'm not just going to give this girl a tip, I'm going to sow a seed in her life. I'm going to go the extra mile and be good to her. We left a twenty-dollar tip for a thirty- dollar meal. But we did it as sowing a seed.

This is not the end of the story, I will continue it tomorrow.......
Great lesson in this, who in your daily life should you sow a seed? People that you work with, socialize with, go to church with? Stay tuned!!!!!!

7 comments:

Roxanne said...

Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

Shaun and Holly said...

Hmmmm.....I am staying tuned!!!

Shari said...

I just came from cleaning my kitchen.. thinking/praying about "they will know we are Christians by our love one for another"... I found myself thinking how hard the world must have seeing Christ sometimes because of our actions or lack of love.

It's time to pray more, take more action, and love unconditionally - Like Joel shared it's not about what we like i.e. the service... it's about our actions and obedience and choosing to show love.

Vicki said...

Several times God has instructed my hubby to ask a waitress what her highest tip to date has been ... then we beat it!! Sowing seeds ... beautiful concept.

Tammy said...

Very interesting, wait until you hear the rest of the story.
"they will know us by our love for one another"........

Maureen said...

Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Jen said...

Staying tuned...Mark and I have learned not to tip based on service, though that is the norm, we tip to bless.