Light your Candle

I really love this song, always have, but I have never listened to it with the ears of grace until today. I love the part that says "frustrated brother see how he's tried to, light his own candle, some other way" and "See how your sister, she's been robbed and lied to, still holds a candle, without a flame". Those couple lines alone made me post this video to share with you, I know the times I have heard this before no matter where, it was always under the idea that holding our candle out was some form of work, outreach ministry, or an outward action that gave a visual to us being a Christian. I believe in action, doing for others, just not as a work to show or prove to myself or anyone else who I am in Christ, but rather out of the knowledge of the love, compassion, and understanding of Christ that He had/has for me. Out of that knowledge comes the same love, compassion, and understanding that is in Him working through me, for no gain, proof, or show of my own, for anyone. "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another." (from the Message) I have always struggled with this! How can I love like He loved? But I reckon that I have always thought of it in the wrong way, I really think that understanding and compassion are the key to the love that Jesus is talking about. No one wants anything more than to be understood, and when understanding come from a heart of grace, compassion and love are right there. I have often heard it said, "you don't have to like someone or what they are doing to love them" and it always vexed me. I think I understand that better now, there are admittedly alot of people that I have a hard time with, but those are personality things, and compatability things. The heart of it is that they are suffering from a world of misleading lies, and the pain of a loneliness that I don't see because of the mask they are wearing, and the covers they are expending so much effort to throw on top of it so it is not seen, and hopefully not felt, at least for a moment. Anyway, there's how I feel about that :-) and here at long last is the song.......