Last Sunday, we played a video from Baptist Mission Australia which asked a few of their cross cultural workers, “What’s love look like?”, encouraging us to explore how many different ways there are to express love in our everyday lives.

“At the heart of mission is God’s love. A God who loves all people – everyday in every place! And we’re graciously invited to bring this love to life, across the street and around the world.” (BMA, What’s Love Look Like?)

One of the ways we can do this is to live as ‘beautifiers’ – that is, put our energies into making things around us better, more beautiful.

Perhaps this looks like planting trees or caring for animals, or cooking a meal for someone who needs it, offering practical help or expertise, or listening deeply to a friend’s concerns.

This isn’t an uncommon attitude in our culture – the phrase ‘make the world a better place’ has become a cliché! But for followers of Jesus, beautifying is much more meaningful and has more lasting consequences. We are invited to join with God in his long-term plan of making all things beautifully new! He loves his world and every person in it. He calls us to love them too and to bring his love to their attention by how we live, behave, act and talk. Nothing good is wasted. Nothing of value is thrown out but is instead redeemed and beautified. And we can be active participants in the process of beautification.

Love to you all, Miranda.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash