When you write someone a love letter you don't fill it up with all the things that are wrong with them. You don't tear them down. You don't remind them of their past mistakes. All the "bad" stuff they've done. Because that's not love. Love doesn't keep a list of rights and wrongs. And, contrary to what popular belief would have you think, love is NOT blind. That idea that we ignore people's flaws when we're in love with them just isn't true. Love isn't blind. Love sees clearly. Love sees what's INSIDE instead of what's on the outside. So while love doesn't ignore people's flaws, love understands that we are MORE than our flaws. That, truly, we are flawless. Look at what Jesus did on the cross: "For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault" (Ephesians 5:25-27 NLT). We always talk about cleaning up our acts. Jesus cleaned up our act. We always talk about turning over a new leaf. Jesus got us into a whole new tree. Not the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death), but the tree of life. Presented to Himself as a New Creation. I'll never forgot when I was sitting in a church camp meeting, and the preacher asked, "Raise your hand if you've ever sinned." And, of course, everybody raised their hand. Which was his point. Except for the person sitting next to me. And she was a rather shy person, so I thought maybe she just didn't want to participate. So I leaned over and asked, flippantly, nonchalantly, "You've never sinned, eh?" And she said, "Of course I haven't. I'm a new creature in Christ. Jesus took all those old sins away." Shocked me. Left me speechless. Cuz she was right. That old stuff died with the old man. Those who are born of Christ CANNOT sin. The Bible says so. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). When you understand that you are the light of the world, you will understand that there is no darkness in you at all. And that's what God's love letter says. That's what He wrote on your heart. He washed us with the Word (which is Jesus, which is love), and made us clean. There's an accuser that tell you all manner of things about you. About how you're not good enough. About how your past defines you. But the truth of the matter is... it doesn't matter what anybody says about you. People are gonna talk. Haters are gonna hate. But you are not what people call you. You ARE what you answer to. Because what you believe--either the report of the world or the report of the Lord--is what defines you. So read that love letter that your heavenly Father wrote. Read it... and accept it. Receive it... and release it. See yourself as you truly are and you'll start to see others as THEY truly are. The deep calls out to the deep. The light in me thinks the light in you is awesome. That's our true selves. That's our connection to each other. So don't let anybody tell you what's wrong with you. Because there's nothing wrong with you. Let God tell you what's right with you. Let Him love the hell right out of you!

When God had something to say He said, "Let there be light." He gave His Son--the light of the world--into His dark and void creation. And He did it in order to fill that void. He did it so that we could see clearly. So that we could see Him clearly--as loving heavenly Father--and see ourselves clearly--as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. He took us out of that darkness of thinking, "I'm just a sinner. Nobody could ever love me." And He brought us into the light of the truth. The ultimate truth of the universe that says God is love and He loves you. Always has and always will. No matter who you are, what you've done, or what you're going to do. Because love is unconditional. If it has conditions, its not love. If its about getting instead of giving, its not love. And since God wrote His Word (Jesus, love) on our hearts... not only are we LOVED, but we ARE LOVE. Love is not just what God does. Love is who God is. And as He is, so are we in this world. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. And in us HE lives, and moves, and has His being! So while it is vitally important that we read the love letter that we are, it is equally important that we share that love letter with everyone we come into contact with. Receiving and releasing. Receiving BY releasing! Filling ourselves to overflowing with the love that He has filled us with, and letting it come out naturally as we love each other with that same love. That's the whole point of the whole thing. That's why we were created. God--who, again, IS love--wanted to express Himself. So He made you, and me. So that He could love us. Because, as the old saying goes, it takes two to tango. Love needs something (or in this case someONE) to love. Otherwise its just an idea, and not charity. I love the idea of charity. Love in action. Putting your money where your mouth is, if I can say it that way. Not just talking about God's love, but actually sharing it. Actually laying your life down for your friends. Actually giving everything you have and everything you are. Gladly. With no care for how the people you love treat you. I'll say it one more time: If you're doing it for the reaction--in order to GET something--its not love. God didn't write, "I'll love you in the hopes that you'll love me back." God wrote, "I love you." When we were yet sinners, and had nothing of value to offer Him, He gave us everything. He gave us His Son. His Spirit. Himself. Jesus didn't just die FOR us, He died AS us. He didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. Because He wanted us to have it, and there was no way for us to earn it. You can't earn a gift. And that's what Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love is; it is the gift of God. It can't be earned, but it must be received and released. And we receive it BY releasing it. We experience it by giving it away. We are God's love letter to humanity. Read by all men. When people see you, they have their best chance of seeing God. Because you see God when you see love. And we, that know and believe that we have that love, are the ones who MUST give it away. We are the ones who can share this glorious Word. This glorious God. This glorious love!

We are God's love letter to the world. To each other. He wrote His Word (which is Jesus, which is love) on our hearts, and when we keep our hearts open the letter He wrote is read by all men. People see God when they see us. When they see us... love. Because God IS love. There is no other way TO see God than to see love. Now watch this: "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:28). This is such a powerful verse to me. Espeically that last part. In Him we have our being. In Him we know who we are. Who we really are. Not who the world says we are. Not who our past (present, or future) mistakes say we are. Not even who WE say we are. But who God says we are. Let God be true and every man a liar, right? God said it and that settles it, right? Well, He said I'm His favorite. And He said the same thing about you. We are the apple of His eye. We are His perfect creation. And He created us so that He could express Himself. Express Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. Because the reverse of Acts 17:28 is also true. In US He lives, and moves, and Has HIS being. We are the visible face of the invisible God. We are how He has chosen to show Himself. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). And, listen, I know a lot of people take this verse to mean, "When Jesus comes back we'll be changed into something better." But I think this "appearing" is really an ongoing thing. Like how we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. Right? I think that when Jesus appears... to me... I'll be like Him. Every time love appears--to me, and in me, and through me, and as me--I am more my real self. My mind is renewed and I am transformed into what I've already been transformed into. A disciple of Jesus is simply a student of love. Learning how to love as we learn how we are loved. Letting God love us and loving others with that love. That's the New Commandment for the New Man. Receive and release the love of God. Receive it BY releasing it. Read the love letter that He wrote on our hearts, and in so doing, let others read it as well. Share what we've got. What we ARE. We ARE the Son(s) of God. Already. Made in His image and then on the cross conformed into the image of His Son. We are who we need to be. We simply need to know who we are. And we know who we are when we know who He is. And He is revealing Himself to us, and in us, and through us day by day. Leading and guiding us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. That truth that you are loved. And because you are loved you CAN love. Because you are loved... you are LOVE. That's what God wrote on our hearts. That's how God's heart beats with love in our chests. He wrote, "Let there be light." So that we can see clearly. See HIM clearly, and see ourselves clearly IN Him. He wrote, "I love you, I love you, I love you. I'll never stop loving you." That's His Word. That's His love letter. He wrote, "I love you so much I'd rather die than be without you." And because He died--because He gave His life for us and to us--we can live. We can live HIS abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love as He lives it (one more time) in us, and through us, and as us!

I want to give the ending away right at the beginning of this Rant series. Ready? You are God's love letter to the world. You are the visible expression of the invisible God. The God who is love. You are what love looks like. You were created in love, for love, by love. And if you've ever wondered why you're here (and who hasn't?) that's the answer. You are here to be loved by God and to love Him back by loving people. Got it? Good. Now lets quote my memory verse to try to back up some of those bold statements. 2 Corinthians 3:2 in the Message Bible, "You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you." In the King James it reads, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." Did you catch that? Our lives are the letter than is written in our hearts. The love letter than God has written to humanity. Known and read of all men just by looking at us. And, by the way, people ARE looking at you. Watching you. For a variety of reasons. Some people are watching you because they want you to fall. But our God is the One who can keep us from falling. Some people are watching you because they look up to you. They want to be like you. And as a father of a six year old mini-me, I can tell you that that one can be even scarier than the first one. My prayer every single night is for God to help me be the man that Logan needs me to be. Its important for people to have role models. But even more important that we--as role models--are modeling God. Modeling love. Because when people read the letter of our heart they see what's in our heart. Let me say it this way: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21). Jesus said that. Its in the red letters. And I've found it to be absolutely true. If you want to know what people really care about, just follow the money. Watch what they spend their money on. Listen to what they talk about. Especially what they brag about. And I know the old saying about how we spend money we don't have on things we don't need in order to impress people that don't matter. But even then, if that's what you're doing, you're doing it because that's where your heart is. I think people do what they do for one of two reasons: 1. They don't know they are loved and are trying to get love any way they can. 2. They know (and believe) that they are loved and are trying to share that love any way they can. There's not much in between. But what I want to focus on in this Rant series is, as the title would suggest, what we, who know what the love letter says, ought to be doing so that others can read it and know it too. And, quite simply, what we do... is let God love the hell out of us and then turn around and love the hell out of the people that we come into contact with. Receive and release the love we've been given. Receive it BY releasing it. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what God has already filled us with. Let what's inside come out, by knowing and believing that its in there. That HE'S in there. Knowing and believing that God loves us. Letting Him love us. Keeping our hearts open so that His love can come out. (Again, its already in there. We don't need to let it in. We just need to BELIEVE its in and let it out. That's called breathing though, and we'll get to that.) God wrote His Word (which is Jesus, which is love) on our hearts. We are His love letter to the world!

When you help people they WILL take advantage of you. Do it anyway. They won't appreciate it. Don't worry about it. Its better to be naive than cynical. Better to keep your heart open than to close it down. Harder, sometimes, certainly, but better. Love is the more excellent way Paul was writing about in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. And love does what it does without any expectation. Remember my personal definition of love? Glady (not grudgingly) giving everything you have and everything you are EVEN THOUGH it seems like the more you love, the less you are loved. That "even though" is important. Because it illustrates that love is about what you give, not what you get. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. And the only thing that will ever truly help someone... is love. That's what people need. That's the most important thing there is. Either way, Christ's love controls us, right? Because either we don't know that we are loved and we do everything we do in order to get it--the man-centered, performance-based trap of relgious works and labor--or we know and believe the love of Christ and we do everything we do in order to share what we've got. Living out of abundance. Sharing the gift we've been given. That's what this life is all about. That's what this life is for. And like I've been trying to say: The best way to feel love is to love others. The best way to help yourself is to help others. Not being self-centered, but being Christ-centered. Which means being people-centered. Putting others first. Esteeming others higher than yourself. Giving instead of trying to get. Receiving and releasing--receiving BY releasing--the love of God. Filling yourself to overflowing with what God has already filled you with. And we fill ourselves with that love by using it. By giving it away. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So by walking in faith--stepping out in love, letting the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) become flesh in OUR flesh--we are PROVING our faith. Our faith in God. Our faith in love. By loving people we are proving, to ourselves, that we believe that we are loved. If we didn't have it we couldn't give it away. So giving it away is really the only way to experience it. We are blessed to be a blessing, right? We bear one another's burdens because we are strong enough to help people carry them. We go through things so that we can learn and grow. So that we can help others as they go through the same stuff we've been through. I'm telling you, its pretty powerful when you can look someone in the eye and say, "I've been right where you're out. I know you can get through this. Because I got through it. And I'm here to help you get through it." And when you go through something with someone... that kind of bond is hard to break. That's the kind of connection that lasts. That's when you can really help people. Not when you condemn them. Most of the time when we screw up, we know it. We don't need someone to pile on, or kick us when we're down. We need someone to reach down and help us up. And if you've been where they are, you can understand. You can lend that helping hand. You can be for them the person you needed. And, again, that is so powerful. So help people. See a need and fill it. Don't worry about what comes next. Just do what you can do. Give what you've got. Let what's inside come out. Live fully. Love fearlessly!

The key is having empathy. Walking a mile in someone else's shoes. Being patient enough to take the time to understand what would actually help, in a given situation. And watch this: For a while now I've been really coming to understand the idea of "blessed to be a blessing." The idea of living out of our abundance. Giving what we've got instead of always trying to get something. The idea of receiving and releasing... but actually receiving BY releasing. Let me quote some Scripture, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4). Its like how the key to happiness is making other people happy. I'll never forget one time when I gave someone a pretty big financial gift so that they could go see their first grandbaby being born. The look on their face... literally priceless. Making them happy made me REALLY happy. I was able to help, and that has stuck with me. The power of giving. The power of love. I always say I don't want nothing from nobody. And part of that IS me protecting myself from the pain of being let down. But a bigger part of that is me knowing (and believing) that I already have everything I need. My heavenly Father, my Daddy, already gave it to me. So I'm good. I'm covered. And, yes, I believe God works through people. So when people give me stuff, I don't turn it down. I accept things. Sometimes I even accept things I don't necessarily want, because I understand the importance of it. Sometimes, if someone wants to give you something, its important to THEM that you receive it. So just be gracious. Always Be Kind. Think of others instead of yourself all the time. Its hard to reach a hand out. Hard to ask for help. Hard to put yourself out there. And if someone reaches a hand out, and you slap it away... think about how much harder it will be for them to ever reach out again. Its not all about you. Its all about all of us. We are all important. Remember where we left off yesterday? About how Jesus didn't come to condemn the world? But to save it? We can save each other by not condemning each other. By looking on the things of others. Doing what THEY need, instead of always worrying about what WE need. And here's the best part: If I look after you, and you look after me, neither one of us NEEDS to look after ourselves. Because we've got each other covered. I tell my son, Logan, almost every day that my favorite part of our relationship is that we always have each other's backs. Because in that kid's opinion... its ok for HIM to get one over on me, but he surely isn't going to let anyone else get one over on me. Now, what if we all treated each other that way? What if we all protected each other. "Not on my watch." But it seems like we're so self-centered sometimes that we're willing to knock someone else down just so we can feel bigger. It seems like our first priority is to help ourselves. But when you help yourself at someone else's expense, you really aren't helping anybody. You're hurting everybody. So I guess what I'm trying to say--what's heavy on my heart today--is that we help ourselves by helping others. That's it. And its that simple. When we love each other, when we lay our lives down for each other, that's when (and how) we truly experience this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. When we give what we've got, we experience what we've got. And what we've got... is love!

Its actually kind of amazing to me how often we end up hurting instead of helping. Its like that old saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." And I'm not getting into the whole "hell issue" today. I'm just saying... you have to be careful. Because sometimes you might have those good intentions. You might think something is broken, and you might want to fix it. But if you don't understand the situation you can easily do more damage. And let me say this: Just because something isn't the way YOU think it should be... that doesn't mean its broken. Things always look different from the outside than from the inside. And here's a completely innocent example that I hope will illustrate my point: I'm of the opinion that salad is the food that my food eats. I don't like green stuff (except Mt. Dew). So to me, when someone loads up on veggies, or when they say they're having salad, like, as a meal... that doesn't make much sense. To me. But that's ok. What YOU do doesn't have to make sense to ME. It only has to make sense to YOU. I don't have to make you believe what I believe. And I don't have to agree with what you believe. Because, believe it or not, we're different people. So if I was to try to force my views on you, in the interest of "helping" you... what I would really be doing is hurting you. But that's what I see. A lot. People trying to make people exactly like them. It won't work though. God doesn't want clones. He celebrates individuality. Even when He conformed us to the image of His Son He wasn't making little Jesus robots. He was simply shining the light of the world so that we could see Him, and ourselves, clearly. So that we could stop seeing Him as a distant, angry taskmaster who is always out to get us (thanks, religion, for that view), and we could see Him as our loving heavenly Father. So we could stop seeing ourselves as dirty, rotten sinners who aren't worthy of love (again, thanks, religion), and see ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Remember when Jesus said we're supposed to do the works He did and GREATER works (John 14:12)? Because He doesn't want us to try to walk in His foot steps. He wants to make new foot steps with our feet. He doesn't want us to try to be like Him. He wants to be Himself in us, and through us, and as us. And for me that means He takes a writer and starts to write Jesus books. For you it might mean He takes a dancer, or a musician, or whatever, and uses that talent for His glory. Basically, you being you but doing what you do... in love. With love. For love. I'm trying to say, loving people... while you let them be who they are... is really the only way you can truly help people. Trying to make them conform to what you think doesn't help. It hurts. Trying to control people doesn't help. It hurts. We have to let people be who they are. Because they WILL be who they are whether we try to control them or not. When we try to control them we just frustrate them, and ourselves, and make a mess of things. To get back to my example: Just because I don't eat green stuff doesn't mean you can't. If you want to... go for it. Do you. Be you. And I'll just go ahead and love you anyway. Let me end with the verse I was planning to use this whole Rant series: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).

I've heard it said, and you probably have to, that more is lost by indecision than wrong decision. And I'm sure there's some truth to that. But I think sometimes we make things worse when we rush in. Even when we're trying to fix things. Sometimes we end up hurting instead of helping. Because we don't fully understand the situation. Its like this, I tell my six year old all the time, "I can't help you with the problem, if I don't know what the problem is." So the first thing we need to do is seek to understand. We need to get an idea of what WILL help, so that we don't do the wrong thing (again, even with good intentions) and end up hurting. I think 2 Corinthians 6:6 in the NLT says what I'm trying to say better than I can: "We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love." Understanding. Patience. Kindness. Those are some really helpful things. And those are really safe places to be. Because some situations DO need snap judgments, or reactions, or actions. But If you're being patient so that you can understand, instead of trying to force your own will, that's kind of how you make peace. And you guys have heard "ABC" right? Always Be Kind. Like my daddy always says, "You can never be too nice to people." And like I always say, "When you don't know what to do... do what you know. LOVE!" Because even if you don't understand what's going on, you can still let what's inside come out. And if you're coming from a place of love... I think you'll be ok. If you're doing it because its in your heart to do it, I don't think you can really go wrong. It may not turn out exactly the way you want it to. But if you're loving someone because you want something... well... you aren't really loving them at all. If you're trying to get something out of the deal its not love. Its control, and manipulation. And that doesn't help anybody. Including yourself. I firmly believe that if you have to beg for something--even if you get it--its not worth it. And if you have to force somebody to do something... its not real. What good is "getting what you want" if its not real? I'm a big fan of real. I don't like fluffed and buffed and polished so much. I like real and raw. I like it when its genuine. So while I might get what I want in the moment by this control or manipulation... in the long run I might lose the person entirely. And in the question of helping or hurting, I'd say that would be hurting. "Don't sacrifice what you want most for what you want right now," I think, is what I'm trying to say. And don't sacrifice people to get stuff. I believe the two most important things in the world are God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. And one of the best ways to show people you love them is to help them. Not to try to get YOUR own way, but to help them get THEIR own way. To esteem others higher than yourself. To bear one another's burdens. To understand what is truly needed in a given situation, and then give that thing. To see a need and meet it. Don't always try to make things the way YOU think they should be. Sometimes rushing in and trying to fit everything into YOUR box will hurt more than it will help. So take a minute. Have some patience. Understanding. Purity. Kindness. Love...

Here's the question I seem to ask myself over and over again: Is this helping or hurting? I ask myself if what I'M doing is helping or hurting, because I only want to help. And I ask (myself) if what others are doing is helping or hurting because I can't believe the way people act sometimes. And I understand that its easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment. But I've been convicted by Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Peacemakers. Those who HAVE the peace of God (that passes understanding and keeps our hearts and minds) and SHARE the peace of God. Those who are identified as the Son(s) of God because of what they bring to the table. Because of what they make. And here's my thought process: We can either keep pushing until someone goes over the edge... or we can try to diffuse the situation. "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). Basically the difference between "winning" and argument, or winning a soul. The difference between helping or hurting. And I'm convinced that its better to have the RIGHT Word (which is Jesus, which is love) than the last word. Its better to be soft and sweet than to pummel someone into oblivion. And here's a key that I've found through hard experience: Very rarely is it possible to change someone's mind. Even if you ARE 100% right. Because you can be right... but if it falls on deaf ears you really aren't being very useful. Which is why relationship is so important. Meeting people where they're at. Being anything to anybody so you can find that common ground. So you can make that connection. And then, once that connection is made, then maybe they'll be able to hear what you have to say. But shouting louder in order to be heard doesn't work. Insisting that people jump through your hoops doesn't work. I've found--again, through a lot of personal experience--that when you demand something, or expect something, from people what you're really doing is setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. But if you let people be who they are, and love them anyway, love them without wanting anything from them... man, that's special. That's agape God love. Selfless. Sacrifical. Giving everything you are and everything you have with the "motive" simply being that you want others to have what you've got. That's how you help people. And, listen, there are some people out there that you CAN'T help. No matter how hard you try. No matter how much you give. And in those cases I always say, "Give it all you've got. Because at that point its either enough... or its not." You should never put yourself--or keep yourself--in a bad, abusive situation. That's not helping anybody. Enabling is not helping. What's that old song say? "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run." Overstaying your welcome doesn't help anybody. Pushing too hard doesn't help anybody. But, as my father always says, "You can never be too nice to people." And that's not being fake, either. That's being mature. Being nice to those people that you might not like... that's helpful. That's good, and proper. That's love. So take a page out of my book and make sure you're helping, not hurting!

Stand still. Kind of goes against our "natural" instincts of either fight or flight, eh? But when you understand our new (true) nature--the love nature--and when you understand that love never fails because love endures, that's when you begin to see that there really IS a more excellent way. And that Way (and that Truth, and that Life) is Jesus. That way... is love. Standing in grace. Letting people be who they are and loving them anyway. Being still and knowing that HE is God. Letting God do what God is going to do in you, and through you, and as you. Not running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to be someone you're not, or trying to do something that you aren't called to do. But simply walking in your calling. Remember what God told Moses after Moses told the people of Israel to stand still? God told them to move forward! That's what standing still and letting God fight for us does. It allows us to go upward and Godward. Because the truth of the matter is, since Jesus fought (and won) the war to end all wars... the only fight left for us is the good fight of faith. Laying hold of eternal life. Receiving the gift we've been given by believing that we've been given it! By giving it away. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Stand still by moving forward. The upside down, backwards Kingdom economy. Move forward by standing still. Keep your head when others are losing theirs. Let the peace of God--that passes understanding--keep your heart and mind. In other words: It doesn't have to make sense. Let me say that again: It doesn't have to make sense. When you know (and believe) that the fire in you is hotter than the fire you're in, you won't have to worry about how hot it gets. Like those three Hebrew boys you'll find that the only thing the fire does is burn off your bonds. Because the fire... is God. He is the consuming fire. So instead of trying to burn people to the ground when we feel like they've done us wrong, we can be still. We can let ourselves be totally consumed by God's love, and we can let that love that's inside come out. Naturally. I don't think we necessarily have to go with the fight or flight option anymore. Because we have a new nature. We can go with the love option. And we can make love our first choice instead of our last chance. We can start with love, and end with love, and let love be everything in between. Jesus IS the Alpha and Omega, after all. And when love is where we begin, and end... when love is where we live, because our house is built on the Rock... that's called being still. Not looking for something from without, but giving from what's within. And that's how God is exalted. Not when we shove Him down people's throats when we try to scare them straight. But when we love the hell out of them. People see God when they see love. Because God IS love. So stop trying so hard to be someone you're not. Stop trying so hard to get something you think you haven't got. Just be who you are. Who you REALLY are. Who you are in Christ... which is who Christ is in you. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. Be still. Let that love consume you. Let it fill you to overflowing and watch as it comes out and gets all over everybody you come into contact with. That's what life is--loving the people in your life. To live is to love, and to love is to live!