Guilt By Association
"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."
John 13:34-35 The Message Remix
One word that I hate is the word Christian. I think my disdain for the word is that it conjures certain expectations and so few live up to its perceived moniker. From my personal experience, many self proclaiming Christians confound me by their lack of Christianity. I expect forgiveness and I am charged. I hope for respect and am marginalized. To quote a book on my reading list, “What happens when bad Christians happen to good people?” I wonder why so many call themselves Christian by their own admission, even though they are hardly ever accused of it.
This verse says that people, in some way, become recognizable as those that belong to Christ. And in my opinion, the only way that happens is to spend so much time with God that a person picks up on his ways, thought patterns and spiritual demeanor. I think we become authentic Christian accomplices when we do supernatural things like forgive the unforgivable or loan out trust to the questionable and when we esteem others higher than ourselves. We keep this command to love when we love those that are unlovable.
In my opinion, we should reclaim the moniker of Christian. I think we should live lives that are so God-connected, so God-centered, that we are blessed by others with the best compliment ever, “You must be a Christian…”
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Final Thoughts on Love
Final Thoughts on Love
After thinking about love for so long, I find myself wanting. I have learned that there are areas where I need more lessons and more experience in God styled love. I find that I am amateur at best when it comes to love. I now realize that I have been taking baby steps into something that has been unknown and mysterious for far too long.
I have learned that love, in God’s style, is hugely improbably if not impossible unless His Holy Spirit causes it to happen. I have learned that it is a gift to us from the one that created love and us. I have gleaned the idea that God’s type of love does not have an expiration date. I see that love is not merely a kind gesture, but a command. Love acts as an ID tag so that others will know we belong to God. Love is a GPS device that has only one destination; the Father. Love is the stuff that activates the gifts of the Holy Spirit and it is all-consuming. In fact, love is knitted into our very DNA. It is what we were meant to do, receive, and be.
But you know what is most awesome about love? To me, the grooviest thing about love is that we were designed to be objects of God’s love. What greater gift can you think of? What can you think of that would compare to being the object of your Heavenly Father’s affection? And He longs to pour His adoration out on us in abundance. Do you believe that? You should, for he sent his son to a cross just to do one thing, make us objects of His affection.
Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Amen, Lord and help me to ALWAYS know that truth. Amen!
After thinking about love for so long, I find myself wanting. I have learned that there are areas where I need more lessons and more experience in God styled love. I find that I am amateur at best when it comes to love. I now realize that I have been taking baby steps into something that has been unknown and mysterious for far too long.
I have learned that love, in God’s style, is hugely improbably if not impossible unless His Holy Spirit causes it to happen. I have learned that it is a gift to us from the one that created love and us. I have gleaned the idea that God’s type of love does not have an expiration date. I see that love is not merely a kind gesture, but a command. Love acts as an ID tag so that others will know we belong to God. Love is a GPS device that has only one destination; the Father. Love is the stuff that activates the gifts of the Holy Spirit and it is all-consuming. In fact, love is knitted into our very DNA. It is what we were meant to do, receive, and be.
But you know what is most awesome about love? To me, the grooviest thing about love is that we were designed to be objects of God’s love. What greater gift can you think of? What can you think of that would compare to being the object of your Heavenly Father’s affection? And He longs to pour His adoration out on us in abundance. Do you believe that? You should, for he sent his son to a cross just to do one thing, make us objects of His affection.
Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Amen, Lord and help me to ALWAYS know that truth. Amen!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Consuming Love – How do you do that?
Consuming Love – How do you do that?
He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:27 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
There is a book titled Hard Sayings of Jesus by F. F. Bruce. From what I have read about it, this verse is not addressed in Mr. Bruce’s book, and I sort of see why. That book is dedicated to dealing with cryptic statements from Jesus. But the above statement from Jesus is not so much hard to understand as it is hard to do. If I wrote such a book, I would call it: Hard Stuff That Jesus Wants Me to Do, But I Don’t Know How.
Jesus gives no instructions on how to love God with heart, soul, and strength, assuming that maybe His audience already knows how to do such a thing. But I am lost at how to pull this off. And I don’t even know exactly what a soul is, much less how to love at maximum capacity with it.
I am sure a better person can help me make sense of this verse, but to the best of my knowledge, I think this verse means that we should intimately know God and cherish those around us.
How does one intimately know God? Maybe it is sort of like finding out where God goes for evening walks, and then join in. Maybe it is like making a lunch date with God and sticking to it. Maybe we intimately know God when we sing songs to him in the car. I think knowing God happens when we scream at him in full throttle anger or when we go running to Him in tears. I think we grasp more of the father when we trust Him with our pain, failures and disappointment. I think we snuggle in with God when we sit with Him in silence and He gets to do all the talking. I’d like to think something intimate happens when we study His word, when we pray and when we serve others. I think we know God better when we live outside our comfort zones. When we step out a bit; it is an opportunity for Him to show up and be Himself. I think that time spent with God makes us just like Him. And when we are like Him, we can’t help but love our neighbor as ourselves.
He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:27 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
There is a book titled Hard Sayings of Jesus by F. F. Bruce. From what I have read about it, this verse is not addressed in Mr. Bruce’s book, and I sort of see why. That book is dedicated to dealing with cryptic statements from Jesus. But the above statement from Jesus is not so much hard to understand as it is hard to do. If I wrote such a book, I would call it: Hard Stuff That Jesus Wants Me to Do, But I Don’t Know How.
Jesus gives no instructions on how to love God with heart, soul, and strength, assuming that maybe His audience already knows how to do such a thing. But I am lost at how to pull this off. And I don’t even know exactly what a soul is, much less how to love at maximum capacity with it.
I am sure a better person can help me make sense of this verse, but to the best of my knowledge, I think this verse means that we should intimately know God and cherish those around us.
How does one intimately know God? Maybe it is sort of like finding out where God goes for evening walks, and then join in. Maybe it is like making a lunch date with God and sticking to it. Maybe we intimately know God when we sing songs to him in the car. I think knowing God happens when we scream at him in full throttle anger or when we go running to Him in tears. I think we grasp more of the father when we trust Him with our pain, failures and disappointment. I think we snuggle in with God when we sit with Him in silence and He gets to do all the talking. I’d like to think something intimate happens when we study His word, when we pray and when we serve others. I think we know God better when we live outside our comfort zones. When we step out a bit; it is an opportunity for Him to show up and be Himself. I think that time spent with God makes us just like Him. And when we are like Him, we can’t help but love our neighbor as ourselves.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Intention of Love
Intention of Love
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Whenever I think of love, I always imagine my perspective to be somewhat askew from others, and I do not think I am alone in my perspective. While various people confuse love with lust, others have come to the conclusion that love is soft, sweet and overtly feminine. If love could be seen, it would be pink, frilly and have white lace on its trim. I imagine love would carry a parasol and wear a petticoat under a poofy outer garment like an antebellum Southern Belle . . . yuk!
It seems to me that love is much more than butterflies in the stomach or a funny infatuation. According to this verse, Love is a catalyst for other gifts or works to come to a Godly purpose. Love seems to be the fuel that makes the supernatural gifts of the Spirit run at peak performance.
The sort of love God showed in the Old Testament was anything but froufrou. To me, the most opulent display of love in the Old Testament was spelled out in the life of Hosea. God had Hosea go and purchase his prostitute wife back from her pimp as a display of how God would buy us back from sin. There is no frilly pink stuff with lace on that sort of love. In the New Testament we see the culmination of what Hosea’s purchase hinted at. We find God’s purchase of us in the death and resurrection of His son.
Yes, love is a lot more than it seems, but there are probably some frilly things on it too.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Whenever I think of love, I always imagine my perspective to be somewhat askew from others, and I do not think I am alone in my perspective. While various people confuse love with lust, others have come to the conclusion that love is soft, sweet and overtly feminine. If love could be seen, it would be pink, frilly and have white lace on its trim. I imagine love would carry a parasol and wear a petticoat under a poofy outer garment like an antebellum Southern Belle . . . yuk!
It seems to me that love is much more than butterflies in the stomach or a funny infatuation. According to this verse, Love is a catalyst for other gifts or works to come to a Godly purpose. Love seems to be the fuel that makes the supernatural gifts of the Spirit run at peak performance.
The sort of love God showed in the Old Testament was anything but froufrou. To me, the most opulent display of love in the Old Testament was spelled out in the life of Hosea. God had Hosea go and purchase his prostitute wife back from her pimp as a display of how God would buy us back from sin. There is no frilly pink stuff with lace on that sort of love. In the New Testament we see the culmination of what Hosea’s purchase hinted at. We find God’s purchase of us in the death and resurrection of His son.
Yes, love is a lot more than it seems, but there are probably some frilly things on it too.
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