Let's start with a passage of Scripture and then get into it. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). And, listen, we're not talking about thought chasing. That's a slippery slope. "Ooops! That was a bad thought!" And now you're dwelling on it. Now you're giving it even more power than it had. Passing thoughts are just that--passing. That's what we always say, right? It came to pass, not to stay. If you have a bad thought... just let it go. Fill yourself with some good stuff. Man, I've been in places where I really needed to just fill myself up with Jesus. Be it listening to music, reading my Bible, or whatever. It's the idea of how God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. When we feel dark, we need to let our light shine. Romans 12:21 (NLT) says, "Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." If you want to feel forgiviness, forgive someone. If you want to feel love... love someone! Let what's already inside come out and you will experience it in a new a real way. But what I was trying to say tonight is pulling down strongholds and casting down imaginations. I once heard a preacher talk about "Some of the nations we really need to be at war with are condemNATION, and imagiNATION." About how we let the accuser do so much damage to us just by listening to the lies he hisses in our ears. When, really, if you know the truth you can ignore the lie. You can stand strong on the Rock on which you've been planted. You can bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ by letting the mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you. By listening to the still, small voice deep inside that says, "I love you" with every beat of God's heart in our chests. There is no condemnation in Christ... because nothing can separate us from the love of God. Love isn't about what you do. Love is about who you are. And who God is. God is love. We love because He first loved us. We love Him back by loving each other because He first filled us up with that love. That's bringing thoughts into captivity! Focusing on what really matters. Focusing on love. Casting everything else down. Laying aside the weight and the sin that so easily besets us. Not fighting with it. We do not war after the flesh. We fight the good fight of faith--laying hold of eternal life. Laying hold of the gift that we've already been given by receiving it. Receiving it and releasing it. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Knowing that even if we screw up royally, we are still the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Knowing that what we do flows from what we believe. The love and affirmation of a Father will always equip and empower His Son! "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Those are the words that echo through time so that we can stop listening to the accuser. So that we can stop accepting the condemnation that the world would heap upon us. If you know the truth you don't have to fight against the lie. You can simply ignore it. You can let people say what they're going to say and not worry about it. People are going to talk no matter what. But, listen, you are not what people call you. You ARE what you answer to. So let God define you. Let love define you. And don't worry about the clutter and the noise from anybody or anywhere else!

If condemnation is an adverse sentence, or verdict, and God's verdict for us was an everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life sentence, then it is easy to see why there is now no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus. And, to me at least, it's easy to see that when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross, and drew all men into Himself, that we all belong to Him. Which means, using Logan logic, that there is no condemnation for any of us. Now, having said that, let me point out the last part of Romans 8:1 (From the KVJ), "There is therefore now no condmenation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Because while I do like to take a little bit here and a little bit there and link things together, it's important that we don't just ignore things that don't seem to fit into our theology. Luckily for me, I seem to see things differently than most "traditional religious folk." Because to THEM, they take this to mean, "There is no condemnation IF you walk after the Spirit and not the flesh." But let's look at that premise-- If you were only walking after the Spirit... what could you be condemned, or have an adverse verdict about? Forgiveness is important because all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, right? If you don't need it... it's not very important. If you don't need "no condemnation" then it doesn't really need to be pointed out. It's like Luke 6:32 (NLT), "If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!" Which is to say, again, forgiveness is important because we needed it. Grace is important because we need it. Mercy is important because we need it. Not having God hold our wrongs against us is important because we need it. So what I'm saying is: It's not an "If-Then" statement. It's not "If you walk after the flesh, then you will have no condemnation." Of course that's true. You know, if you ignore the fact that some people out there will condemn you no matter who you are or what you're doing. My point is, BECAUSE there is no condemnation we CAN walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh. You know what I've found? I've found that if someone is going to condemn me for something I haven't done... I feel like I might as well do it. Make the crime fit the punishment. If people are going to condemn me, I might as well make it worth my while. Right? Or, you know, the flip side of that... the more excellent way that says, "GOD is not condemning you, and has given you everything you need to experience His life... so stop listening to the condemnation of others, stop doing things you don't really want to do, and walk in newness of life!" It seems that a lot of the time we are like the man under the law who Paul writes about in Romans chapter 7. "I find myself doing the things I don't want to do, and not doing the things I want to do." And doesn't it line up perfectly that shortly after writing about the struggle (again, under the law, under the idea of external behavior modification) Paul writes our key verse for this Rant series? After saying he can't live what people think of as a "perfect" life... he says there is no condemnation! He says nothing can seperate us from the love of God! That's our blessed assurance! That's why the idea of "no condemnation" is so important. Even when we mess up God doesn't give an adverse verdict! On the cross He didn't give a death sentence. Jesus laid His life down. Three days later the Father raised the Son back to life and gave an everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life sentence! If you mess up... learn from it and keep moving forward! There is grace to grow. There is no disqualification. No condemnation!

Let's look at our key verse for this Rant series and really dive into it. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). And I'm using the King James Version here because that's the version that (on my Bible app) is linked to the Strong's Concordance. "Condemnation," in said Strong's Greek Concordance, is number 2631 and it means, "an adverse sentence (the verdict): - condemnation." Which, ironically, is what religious folk would have you believe is what happened on the cross. They put forth the idea that God's verdict was a death sentence. That God killed His only begotten Son. That God... killed God? Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body, made... Himself... so mad that He had to kill... Himself? I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense. Especially when it was MANKIND who hung Jesus on the cross. But even then, it wasn't mankind who KILLED Jesus. Nobody killed Jesus, because nobody could. God is life. How could anybody kill life? Jesus laid His life down so He could pick it back up. God's sentence wasn't a death sentence. God's judgment, or sentence, was a LIFE sentence! An abundant, everlasting, eternal life sentence! He raised His only begotten Son FROM the dead. And all of us in Him. That's what it means to "be in Christ"--it means that when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross, He drew us all into Himself. And He planted Himself in all of us. Drew us out of the death that we were already in, and drew us into the life that He is! But here's the point as far as our daily walk, or daily life: Nobody, and I mean nobody, can bring an adverse sentence against you. Think about it: If God has forgiven your sins (and He has), what does anybody else possibly have to say about it? That would be nothing. Like the person at camp meeting who didn't raise their hand when asked "Who in here has sinned?". That wasn't me. That old man is dead and gone. Buried at sea in water baptism. That may be who I WAS, but that's not who I AM. A "sinner saved by grace" is not a sinner any more. Something happened. The cross happened. Once a sinnner... now a saint! Once a sinner... now a Son! We need to understand and embrace our "new" (TRUE) identity. And that comes not only with a clean slate (that could, you know, be dirtied up again) but with the glorious truth that we are, and will forever be, in right standing with God! You ARE the righteousness of God in Christ. And that's not dependent on anything. That's not just what you do. That's who you are. Even on your worst day. Even in the midst of your biggest screwup. When you make a mistake you are not disqualified. You are still the righteousness of God in Christ. Your behavior does not change your identity--but a revelation of your true identity WILL change your behavior! And here's the key: If there's no condemnation, that means you have grace to grow. That means you can live and learn. You can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any. So give yourself a break. Cut yourself some slack. Stop giving an adverse sentence... to yourself. You ARE perfect, or complete, in Him. So stop worrying so much about what that looks like. You're not lacking anything that you need. There is nothing anybody says about you that you need to listen to--except for the still, small voice deep inside you that says, "I love you, I love you, I love you" with every beat of God's heart in your chest. That's the judgment of God. That's what equips and empowers us to live and to love. That's what you ought to listen to. Because that is the ultimate truth of the universe!

I just released a podcast episode today about the afterlife. About how our whole view of what happens after death may or may not be the same as Jesus's. And one of the points I've been trying to make recently on the podcast is that even if hell DID exist as a place for an angry God to torment and punish "sinners"... the fact that our sin has been forgiven and taken away--to me--means that even if hell DID exist... it would be empty. Right? Because if sin is your "ticket" to "hell," and Jesus took away the sin of the world... I guess what I'm trying to say is, "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1 NLT). Which, I guess, could beg the question, "Who belongs to Christ Jesus?" Right? Like the guy in Luke chapter 18. "Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: "Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?"" (Luke 18:18 NLT). Or the lawyer in Luke 10:29 (NLT), "The man wanted to justify his action, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"" It's like we have this mindset of trying to get away with as much as possible. Or get away with doing as little as possible. "Love my neighbor? Sure. That sounds good. But lets define the term, because I don't want to love anybody I don't have to." It's like religious folk see themselves as Holy Spirit policemen. They get to decide who is condemned and who isn't. They get to decide who deserves God's love and who doesn't. They get to decide who "goes to heaven" and who "goes to hell." When, really, IF that decision existed... it would belong to the God who is love. The God who created all of us. The God to whom we all belong. Look at John 12:32 (NLT), "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." Who did Jesus draw to Himself when He was lifted up on the cross? Everyone! Who belongs to Him? Everyone! When Jesus cried out from the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!" I believe He was talking about the people who were currently crucifying Him... and I believe He was talking about everybody who had ever been or would ever be. AND I believe God heard and answered that prayer. So if God forgave them (us) because we didn't even know what we were doing... if we all belong to Him and He took away the sin of the world... then OF COURSE there is no condemnation! How could there be? I'll use this story again because I think it's powerful. Once, years ago, I was at a church conference in West by God Virginia. And the speaker asked us to raise our hand if we had ever sinned. Of course everybody did. Except the person sitting next to me. Which I thought was odd. So I asked them about it later and they said, "That old man who was a sinner is dead and gone. That's not me." Boom! The gospel right there in a nutshell. The sinner was saved by grace and doesn't exist anymore. Hell, as defined in the Bible, is the place of the dead. Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:14. Because, you know, death died on the cross. So why would a place of the dead be needed anymore? And, just for the record, GOD is that lake of fire (that's next week's podcast). So I guess what I'm trying to say is: OF COURSE there is no condemnation! Not from God. Not from the One who matters. So what we need to do is start exercising mind over matter. If you don't mind, they don't matter. Stop letting people condemn you for something that God has cleared you of. Forgiven you for. Let the mind of Christ that is already in you... BE in you! USE the mind of Christ that you have been given. Let the grace, and mercy, and forgiveness, and love that God has given you come out!

The difference between being Christ-centered and being self-centered... is people. Being Christ-centered means being people-centered. Jesus said, ""And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"" (Matthew 25:40 NLT). How we treat people is how we treat God. Because God lives in people. Putting others first. Laying your life down for your friends. Giving what you've got without worrying about getting. Esteeming others higher than yourself. These are the building blocks that a life of service--a life of love--is built upon. But, man oh man, does that ever take repentance. A mindset shift. Seeing things differently in light of something that has happened. The thing that happened was the cross. And the thing we can see differently... is everything. Either the cross changed everything, or it didn't change anything. It litearally changed us from having to try to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow... to Jesus sweating great drops of blood. His blood redeemed us from that curse. Or that cursed dimension. Brought us out of death an into life. Brought us out of darkness and into light. Now we can see things clearly. We can see things as they really are. We can see the light, and we can see that we ARE the light. We can relate to each other in a more excellent way, because we can relate to God in a more excellent way. Instead of trying to get, or earn, His love... we can simply receive it and release it. Look at Matthew 10:8 (NLT), "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Five as freely as you have received!" The idea of receiving and releasing is so important. Especially Biblically, or Spiritually. We love, because He first loved us. We love HIM because He first loved us. We love Him BY loving each other. Love is giving. First God gave us something--His love--now we can give it back to Him by giving it to the people we come across in our lives. Receiving and releasing. Freely you have been given... freely give. Don't be stingy with your love. Be generous. Be carefree. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. By filling yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with. BE transformed, into what you've already BEEN transformed into, by loving people. By treating others the way you want to be treated. Not scratching their back in the hopes they will scratch yours, but simply thinking "Man, if I was itchy, I sure would want someone to scratch my back." Seeing a need and meeting it. Just seeing a need and meeting it. Making it that simple. If you have two shirts, and someone doesn't have one... don't complicate things. Just give them one of your shirts. Problem solved. It doesn't always have to be big and hard. Sometimes it's as easy as seeing a need and meeting it. Giving what you've got. Living out of your abundance. Looking past yourself, and seeing other people. Having empathy. Sympathy. Mercy. Grace. Forgiviness. Love!

Charity starts at home, am I right? Mother Teresa said, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family." That is the place we have the most influence. Those are the people who are affected most by what we say and do. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the time we give our family whatever we have left. We have all these other responsibilites--work, whatever--and we give those things our best. And, listen, I'm not saying to neglect your other responsibilities. I'm saying it's important to have balance. It's important to have your priorities straight. You've probably heard the saying, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." When the family dynamic is off it affects everybody. What does this have with the Golden Rule? With treating people the way you want to be treated? Everything! Because it's almost like we think the Golden Rule only applies to the people at work. Or random strangers. Like, we'll pay for the people behind us in the McDonald's drive through, but then get home and yell at our kids. Or take out a stressful day on our spouse. And, yes, I do believe your relationship should be a safe place where you can vent if you need to vent. But there's a way to do that without harming the person you're venting to. There's a way to do that in a positive, productive way. I think I've mentioned before that when I had a basketball hoop in the driveway I used to go shoot free throws when I was going through something. Which, by the way, was a lot of the time. Life comes at you fast. We're all almost always going through something. We need those coping skills. And we need those people in our lives that have our backs no matter what. Also known as family. Or friends, which my kid once defined as "family that you choose." So here's what I'm trying to say today: If something (or someone) is important to you... you take care of it. You don't use it and abuse it. Because I whole heartedly believe that if you push someone, one of two things will happen. 1. They will fall over. 2. They will push back. And I have a feeling that you don't really want either of those things to happen. Or, if you do, you need to reevaluate. If your goal is to steamroll someone so you can get what you want from them... well... you need a new goal. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Give kindness--not in order to try to get it, but because you probably know what it's like to not have it. I think the idea of empathy, or putting yourself in someone else's shoes, is so vitally important to really being able to experience this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God (that is HIS life of love) to the fullest. Loving people the way THEY need to be loved. Not doing for someone what you wish someone would do for you. But getting to know them so you can do for them what THEY wish someone would do for them. And, again, it starts at home. It starts with the people you see on a daily basis. Taking care of the needs of those that God has put you in authority over (kids), or in relationship with (spouses, or signifigant others). And when it starts at home, it can move forward from there. If you get your day off to a good start, you can let that momentum carry forward. You can take the ball and run with it. You can love the people in your house, and then love the people outside of it!

When you're thinking about others you need to think about OTHERS. That, to me, is the key to the Golden Rule. Taking the premise of "treat others as you want to be treated" in the general sense of "I want people to be kind to me so I'm going to be kind to people" in the "be the change you want to see in the world" sense... and then make it personal. See a need and meet it. That's been my mantra for many years now. Just see a need and meet it. And that, to me, is the most basic idea of the Golden Rule anyway. If YOU have a need, I KNOW you want someone to meet it. I've been there. One of the worst feelings in the world is having a need and it not being met. So make it simple for yourself. Don't do for someone (specifically) what you wish they'd do for you. Don't try to get something from someone by giving something to them. Love is never about getting, because love is giving. It's not "I'll scratch your back so that you scratch mine." It's simply, "Oh, you have an itch you can't reach? Let me get that for you." Like it says in Luke 3:10-11 (NLT), "The crowds asked, "What should we do?"  John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." SImple. See a need and meet it. And I love the way he said, "If you have TWO shirts." Because we aren't supposed to need a saw to give someone a hand. You don't have to maim yourself in order to help someone else. Live out of your abundance. You are blessed to be a blessing. If God knows you need two shirts--one for you and one for someone who doesn't have one--He'll give you two. My God will provide all your need... and all your neighbor's need... according to HIS riches in glory. We don't need to kill ourselves in order to lay our lives down for our friends. Just do what you can do. Love is maximum effort, so do what you can do and let that either be enough... or not. It's like the idea of turning the other cheek. To me that simply means don't retaliate. It doesn't mean stand there and let someone slap you over and over and over again. Like... walk away from toxic situations. Set boundaries. Love people from a distance. Sometimes ALL you can do for someone is pray for them. And that's enough. That's a lot. Don't think you have to fix every problem. That's not your job. You're not a Spiritual cop. Or at least you shouldn't be. Look at Romans 13:8 (NLT), "Owe nothing to anyone--except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law." Which, by the way, is the New Commandment: Love one another as Jesus loves you. It's all about love. Receiving and releasing God's love. Letting God love you and loving Him back by loving people. Where the rubber meets the road is HOW we do that. HOW we love one another. And, as I said, the most simple way to do that is to see a need and meet it. Don't make it hard. Don't make it complicated. If someone needs something, and you can meet that need... do it. Give what you've got. Let what's inside come out. Treat others the way you want to be treated--with respect, and kindness, and love!

Treating others as you want to be treated is NOT about getting people to treat you the way you want to be treated. Love is giving. It is never about getting. If getting is your motivation... you need to reevaluate some things. If getting is your motivation... you either haven't fully grasped or don't fully believe the ultimate truth of the universe--that God is love and He loves you. That we have no lack because our God has no lack. We've been talking about the Golden Rule. Today let's look at the New Commandment. "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other" (John 13:34 NLT). And to me, the key there is "Just as I have loved you." Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So in order to love... we must first BE loved. Which is literally what 1 John 4:19 (NLT) says, "We love each other because he loved us first." You can't give what you don't have. In order to love (which is giving), we must first be loved. In order to give, we must first have something to give. You fill yourself to overflowing with what God has already filled you with. You receive it and release it. And here's why that's so awesome: It puts the emphasis where it belongs--on Jesus. He said we love as He has loved us. So our love only has to agree with His love. If He wants us to love big and hard... He has to first love us big and hard! Our love for each other (which is how we love God, by the way), is simply a response to God's love for us. Receiving it and releasing it. Breathing it in and breathing it out. Letting what's already inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. And the thing about love is, it comes in many forms, and shapes, and sizes. Remember my cookie deal from yesterday? I'm telling you, giving ME a cookie is showing me love. But that doesn't apply to everybody. I'm sure there are people out there who don't like cookies. I find it a bit hard to believe, but I'm sure it must be true. So giving them something they don't want isn't showing them love. We need to know HOW to love people. And that only comes from getting to know them. That only comes from building those relationships and those connections with them. When we are loving people it's not about us. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you isn't about, "I wish someone would give me a cookie so I'm going to give them a cookie." It's, "I like it when people are nice to me, so I'm going to be nice to people." It's that basic, general sense of treating people how you want to be treated. And not with the expectation that it will get them to treat you that way. No, it is simply the standard for how you should be acting. Again--if your motive is to get... that's not love. Love is giving. If you don't know what to do, do what you know. Love people. Let God love the hell out of you, and love Him back by loving the hell out of people. Love without expectation. Love without condition. Be the change you want to see in the world. Be the person you needed when you were younger. Don't let hurt and bitterness get to you. Learn from it and make sure other people don't have to go through what you went through. God loves you. And He loves you more than anything or anyone has ever loved anything or anyone. That's where our ability to love each other comes from. Receiving His love and releasing His love. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing it's in there. Following the New Commandment and the Golden Rule by letting God love you and loving Him back by loving people. It really is just that simple!

I feel like there are things I return to in my minstry. Things that I keep coming back to, to preach and teach and write and rant about over and over. And these are not necessarily things I think I have a completely firm grasp on. Because a lot of my ministry is discovery. Figuring things out. Or, rather, letting God reveal things to me as I journey deeper and deeper into the heart of the matter--which is the heart. For example, for a long time I said, "Receive it and reflect it." And I thought that was pretty good. Had a nice turn of phrase. Felt solid. But then I started thinking about how the moon doesn't have a light of it's own and simply reflects the light of the sun. Which almost IS a picture of our heavenly Father and us, His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Almost. Because we don't just "reflect" His light. We ARE that same light. So I changed it to "receive it and release it." Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. We are not just a reflection of Him. We ARE Him. Jesus is our true identity. As He is, so are we in this world. He lives in us. And through us. And as us. Jesus identified Himself as the light of the world... and He identified US as the light of the world. It's the same light. So while the moon DOES reflect the same light as the sun... in our case it's a more excellent way. We ARE the same light as the SON. It's not just a reflection. It's our nature. It's not just what we do. It's who we are. Ok. So that was my long-winded way of saying I find myself preaching and teaching and writing and ranting about the "golden rule" a lot. You know, Matthew 7:12 (NLT), "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." And the reason I think I find myself returning to it over and over again is because I like to clear up misconceptions. Twisted Scripture doesn't do anybody any good. And it seems to me that a big part of what this memory verse has become is--"I want you to scratch my back, so I guess I have to scratch yours." We've almost made it mean, "If you want someone to do something to you, do it to them first." And that's not what Jesus was saying. At all. He was, as always, simply trying to show us that more excellent way. And, I believe, He was trying to make things simple for us. Kind of like, "You all have been trying--and failing--to keep the Law of Moses. Let me boil it down to something very simple for you. Treat others how you want to be treated. You don't know how to love someone? Do what you would like them to do to you." That takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. Now follow me on this one: That doesn't mean, "I like cookies, so I'm going to give someone a cookie." Because they might not like cookies. It's more general than that. It's more surface level than that--at the beginning. It simply means, "If you would like someone to be nice to you... be nice to them." Don't wait for people to make the first move. Be nice. Treat people the way you want to be treated. In general. And then, when you start to build that connection and that relationship, then you can really begin to specifically know what their needs are, and meet those needs. Then, instead of cookies... maybe they like energy drinks. Or whatever. It's not always about material things, but I hope you see my point. It's the idea of, "I like it when people are nice to me... so I'm going to be nice to people." It's not trying to get something from someone through your behavior towards them. Love is giving. It's never about getting. It's simply about giving what you've got. Letting the love inside come out. And the most simple, basic way to do that is by treating people the way (generally) you would like to be treated!

The thing to remember about those who humble themselves being exalted is that it being exalted is not the goal. Jesus wasn't giving us an if-then statement. He wasn't saying, "If you humble yourself, then you will be exalted." It wasn't a loophole, or a shortcut, to getting what we want. Because, in all honesty, if being exalted is what you want... you've got your priorites really screwed up. But that's what a lot of us think life is about--getting ahead. Winning. Whoever dies with the most toys wins. We think that being right is more important than being kind. We think that if we're not first, we're last. When, in truth, we're all in this together. The tide raises all ships. If I help you, I'm really helping myself too. But in a selfless way. Laying your life down for your friends is the greatest love you can have. Giving everything you have and everything you are without worrying about how it's received. Without worrying about whether or not someone "deserves" it. Guys, "deserve" has nothing to do with it. Love is unconditional. It doesn't have conditions. It just is. It flows from our heavenly Father, into us... and out of us. Through us. So your mindset when humbling yourself ought to be... humble. Which, as I often say, doesn't mean thinking less of yourself, it simply means thinking of yourself less. Getting to the place where you can take the low seat--not in the hopes of getting a higher one--simply because you're not worried about where you're sitting. Making room for others. Looking out for others. If I have your back, and you have mine, neither one of us has to watch our own backs. Because we're covered. And that's a more excellent way to live. Being selfless is better than being selfish. Every single time. Because love is giving. Not getting. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. And you can't get while you're loving. Which doesn't mean you can't receive. Receiving and getting are two different things. Freely you have received, freely you can give. But getting something--taking something--is the opposite of that. If you have to lose in order for me to win--if you have to be last in order for me to be first--have I really won? If it comes at someone else's expense is it really worth it? Like we talked about with Pau's writings on eating food that causes someone to stumble. It is worth it? I don't think so. I think people are worth it. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. And, really, the only way to be "first" is to love someone. To esteem others higher than yourself. To put others first. I know it's counterintuitive. I know it doesn't make sense to the "natural" mind. And I know it takes a complete mindset shift. But that's the point of the Kingdom. That's why Jesus preached things like this. He wanted us to have a different mindset. He wanted us to repent, or think differently in light of new information. That new information is the cross. That new information is God's love for us. God loves you. That makes you first in His book. Without you doing anything. So you don't have to climb the ladder. You don't have to step on other people. You can simply receive and release His love, and in that way put others first. Make others the same first that God made you. So be who you are and give what you've got. Receive and release the love of God. Don't try to exalt yourself. Just love people.