Something I omitted in yesterday's post, actually it didn't come to mind until last night. In our relationships with people in loving them we don't know how it will turn out. We don't know if they will love us back. Even if they seem to return it they may not be fully committed. I think knowing would change our outlook on people, maybe to the point of being detrimental. We usually pass judgments, and act on them - this person will never change, but we have to admit they could.

With God He loves us and He knows whether or not we will ever love Him back. Even those that won't ultimately He loves. A lot like a parent who never gives up on a child although His relationship with us is even deeper than that. Parents always have hope. In the scripture below God knew how Judas would ultimately respond, and yet He did not with hold His love, and treated him just like the others.

Matthew 10 The thing that strikes me about Matthew 10 is the fact that Jesus summoned His 12 disciples which included Judas, and gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits and heal every kind of disease and sickness. Most people will tell you that somehow Judas didn't get this authority or that he didn't do what Jesus instructed him to. He was given authority and sent out though to preach and heal. He also warns His disciples that they cannot know men's hearts furthermore when believer's family (parents or kids) turn them in for their belief they are to ENDURE. Endure to the end- Christian walk will not be strife less or without difficulty. There will be family strife in being a Christian, it doesn't say husband- wife specifically, and main examples are woman versus woman or man man conflict within families that can transcend generations (ex. father and son). Your family won't understand your commitment or having known you their entire lives won't believe it is genuine. Beyond that we tend to have closer relationships with similar gendered family members, we know how they think, etc. So that strife will most likely come primarily from that area. They know the choices you face and how you think, so their skepticism can be greater.

Verse 10:27 is why I'm writing this. What God tells us in secret (which could be our thoughts and meditation) we are to proclaim or share with others.