An Important Conversation with My Younger Self, #4

God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

So I’ve had a few conversations with my former self. If you’re interested you can check them out here: 1st conversation; here: 2nd conversation; and here: 3rd conversation. Today I’m traveling back in time to have a fourth conversation with my former self. I hope I’ll listen.

Young Kurt: “Back again eh?”

Old Kurt: “I’m concerned about you.”

Young Kurt: “But you’re from the future, so, you know everything turns out alright.”

Old Kurt: “It’s not quite that simple. Can I share just one thing with you today?

Young Kurt: “I guess so, go ahead.”

Old Kurt: “I want you to do us a favor.”

Young Kurt: “Yes…”

Old Kurt: “I want you to do this one thing for us.”

Young Kurt stares back blankly.

Old Kurt: “Please, do this for us. It will save us so much grief.”

Young Kurt: “Well, what is it?”

Old Kurt, says to himself: “How do I say this?”

Young Kurt: “Just say it!”

Old Kurt takes a deep breath, looks directly at young Kurt, and says: “Please, learn how to be humble.”

Young Kurt: “Come on. Maybe I could do better but I’m not that bad.”

Old Kurt: “When you’re older, you’re going to realize just how far you are right now from where you need to be. So please, listen. I’m pleading with you to listen. You’re smart and knowledgeable, and you have a talent for research, but you’re not as smart and knowledgeable as you think you are. And your biases color your research way more than you realize. Please, do your best to understand others before you shoot back with your own opinion. Respond with questions. Listen for understanding. Make people feel like they’re being heard.

“You’re not right as often as you think you are.

“You’ll save yourself so much misery if you’ll do this for us.

“Just learn to be humble.

“Proverbs 11:12”

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus) available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

  • Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
  • How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
  • The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
  • How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
  • How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
  • How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
  • How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
  • How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
  • How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindlehardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)

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