Love from above.

             I, as a selfish human, cannot love God without Him first loving me. Bernard of Clairvaux writes about this. He says that as humans, we are naturally self-loving. I know this is true; I feel it inside of me. It is the reason that I am most concerned with my own needs and wants. How can something that only loves self come to love God? By him loving me first. He showed me what love and sacrifice looks like. He is able to “soften” my heart because of his love. It is only after this that I can comprehend what real love is and begin to return it.

            What about loving other people? Bernard again writes that God must be loved first if one is to truly love others. I see this to be true, as well.  When I love Jesus, he becomee my focus and my desire. His love becomes what I want to share. And the love that he has towards me is the only true love that I can show to others. Human love can be selfish, but Jesus is the perfect example of real love. He is love. He gives me the desire to love the unlovely with purity and abandon to self. Without God loving me, I would not have the ability, or even want, to love others.

Two commands.

          Letting the light of Christ shine through us to others is important, as it shows off Christ to others. I often wonder if Christians, are to blame for the question "Where is God is this horrible world?" If we were to live out our faith in our actions, would not others see the Lord at work within us? If we lived out the love of the Bible, would not others feel it? When we do not live out a visible faith, we do not draw people to God. Others cannot feel the love of God when his bride seems uncommitted to him and his goals. I concur with Willard when he writes about our non-discipleship costing us joy. We loose the joy of seeing others come into the kingdom when we will not share it with them.

          Loving our enemies is something that sets us apart from the world. It is a picture of the forgiveness of Christ. If we will not love our enemies, we will not even begin to understand what Christ did for us on the cross. Our hatefulness and unforgivness costs us appreciation for the cross as well as a peace that comes from living in a right relationship with those around us

What you must do to be a disciple

1)   Rejoice in suffering

2)   Let your light shine before others

3)   Be reconciled to those around you

4)   Get rid of whatever causes you to sin

5)   Do not take oaths, just mean what you say

6)   Do not retaliate to those who harm you

7)   Give to those who ask

8)   Love your enemies

9)   Pray for your persecutors

10)   Be perfect

Show me how to live like Christ.

The first youth ministry I was involved with was FBC Grants. It was at this time in 7^th grade where my faith really began to grow. God particularly used the youth pastor at this church to show me what living like Christ looked like. The youth pastor would hang out with us outside of church, coming to school events or inviting us over to his house to just hang out. He poured into us. His ministry was not just on Sundays and Wednesdays; it was everyday. I look back and I can see that he was discipling us. He was sharing life with us as an opportunity to teach us how to live like Christ did. And because of his witness, many of his students did become little Christs. Many of them have grown up and are following in the footsteps of Jesus (as displayed by our youth pastor) by pouring themselves into other students. If more leaders and teachers in churches would actually disciple their students, the word of God would grow so greatly. 

Will I still be me?

When I struggle with giving all of myself to God, what is hardest to grapple with is not knowing who I will become. God would change me I gave myself to Him.  I agree with Lewis when he writes about how we want to do good things, but still have enough leftovers to do our own thing. That is how I feel. I want to please God and live out His plans for me, but I still want my time, my joy, and my desires. It is fear of the unknown that makes giving myself to God hard. I do not know who I will become. Will I still be me?