It's so much bigger than I am. I can't do this by myself. Help me!
That was my heart's cry a few days ago as I was hit with the weightiness of my depravity yet again. If there's one thing that I'm sure of, it's that God never lets me go for long without bringing me back to...
The reality of my sin
The reality that even though I'm saved, I'm not perfect
The reality that while I'm justified, I'm not yet fully sanctified
And this causes real pain. The knowledge that I've been willfully blinded regarding my conduct towards certain people I love.
Love.
Reading 1 Corinthians 13, I'm beginning to wonder if I even know how to love after all.
Romans reminds me that there's nothing spectacular about loving those who are lovable, but that God's glory is seen when I love those who I find to be unlovable.
And that's what life is supposed to be about in the first place; God's glory, not ours.
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
Ok, ok, I get the principle well enough, but what about putting it into practice? A little harder than just having head knowledge, ya know.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty excellent at loving those who are loveable. Enter the unlovable? Well, I find them a bit more challenging. In fact, it's when I meet up with an unlovable that I find myself doing the exact opposite of love. So, my love is more often than not completely unspectacular and I rob God of the glory due Him.
Ok. So. Now we come to the crux of it, as it were. My problem? My kingdom is separate from God's. Oops! Big problem. So I'm more concerned with Alex and Alex's preferences and agenda than I am with God's? No bueno.
If I were concerned with God's kingdom all the time, then when an unlovable comes along, I set my rights aside and practice love by being patient, kind, humble, respectful, selfless, considerate, and a rejoice-er in the Truth. I can't just laugh this off as impossible since it is commanded to us in Scripture.
But that's just it. It is impossible. Completely and utterly so.
But I serve One for who it is possible. I serve One who sees my human frame and remembers that I am but a worm. I serve the One who is Himself the very essence of Love. That's the thing with true love, though. It's not something we do as much as it's something we are. And that is a beautiful thing. Thankfully, He sees my struggles, knows that I am NOT love, and is faithful to help me through it.
I know this is a life-long process and I know without a doubt that I will fail, but I'm committed to now start loving like the LORD.
That was my heart's cry a few days ago as I was hit with the weightiness of my depravity yet again. If there's one thing that I'm sure of, it's that God never lets me go for long without bringing me back to...
The reality of my sin
The reality that even though I'm saved, I'm not perfect
The reality that while I'm justified, I'm not yet fully sanctified
And this causes real pain. The knowledge that I've been willfully blinded regarding my conduct towards certain people I love.
Love.
Reading 1 Corinthians 13, I'm beginning to wonder if I even know how to love after all.
Romans reminds me that there's nothing spectacular about loving those who are lovable, but that God's glory is seen when I love those who I find to be unlovable.
And that's what life is supposed to be about in the first place; God's glory, not ours.
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
Ok, ok, I get the principle well enough, but what about putting it into practice? A little harder than just having head knowledge, ya know.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty excellent at loving those who are loveable. Enter the unlovable? Well, I find them a bit more challenging. In fact, it's when I meet up with an unlovable that I find myself doing the exact opposite of love. So, my love is more often than not completely unspectacular and I rob God of the glory due Him.
Ok. So. Now we come to the crux of it, as it were. My problem? My kingdom is separate from God's. Oops! Big problem. So I'm more concerned with Alex and Alex's preferences and agenda than I am with God's? No bueno.
If I were concerned with God's kingdom all the time, then when an unlovable comes along, I set my rights aside and practice love by being patient, kind, humble, respectful, selfless, considerate, and a rejoice-er in the Truth. I can't just laugh this off as impossible since it is commanded to us in Scripture.
But that's just it. It is impossible. Completely and utterly so.
But I serve One for who it is possible. I serve One who sees my human frame and remembers that I am but a worm. I serve the One who is Himself the very essence of Love. That's the thing with true love, though. It's not something we do as much as it's something we are. And that is a beautiful thing. Thankfully, He sees my struggles, knows that I am NOT love, and is faithful to help me through it.
I know this is a life-long process and I know without a doubt that I will fail, but I'm committed to now start loving like the LORD.
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