I just keep thinking about this picture of two old people walking side by side, holding hands. That, to me, is what it means to walk in love. And you don't have to be old, either. Remember puppy love? When just touching his or her hand sent sparks and goosebumps all the way through you? But the point is to walk together. Paul wrote, "When I am with those we are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22, NLT). Being all things to all people, I believe the King James Version says. But the point is, if you want to walk with someone, you have to find that common ground. You have to be able to connect with them on some level. You have to be able to put aside your differences. If you're always and only expecting people to agree with you in every thing in every way... well... good luck finding that. Even my son, Logan, who is a mini-me if there ever was one, doesn't agree with me on everything. We don't like the same music. He's a gamer and I'm not. But we still manage to have an amazing relationship. Sometimes we listen to his music, and sometimes we listen to mine. Sometimes we play games, and sometimes we watch TV shows or movies. You can't always have things your way. Unless you want to be alone all the time. And even then you can't ALWAYS have it your way. I don't know where this sense of entitlement came from. People expecting to get what they want when they want it every single time. It's bizzare to me. Now, having said that, I believe that when you can make someone smile... you should. Because the world needs more of that. I preach a lot about seeing a NEED and meeting it. And I stand behind that. Because needs are more important than wants. But guess what... we need to smile sometimes. We need to get a win once in a while. If you can help someone do that, more power to you. And, as always, that means living out of your abundance. You don't need a saw to give someone a hand. You don't have to harm yourself in order to help someone else. If you have TWO coats, give ONE to someone that doesn't have one. Live out of your abundance. Or, better yet, if someone is cold... maybe SHARE your blanket with them. Walk with them. Don't just give 'em the old, "That's a bummer, man. Good luck. Hope you figure it out." Walk with them. Walk in love. Share what you've got. And in that way experience it in a more real and perfect way. Perfect doesn't mean never messing up. It means maturity. If you're mature enough to put someone else's needs (and wants) above your own... that's love. And that's as good as it gets. I've found that when I esteem someone else higher than myself, I don't feel diminished. I feel full. Like Jesus told His disciples, His meat was to do the will of His Father. When we love people, we are not only filling THEM up, but we are filling OURSELVES up to overflowing with what we have already been filled with. We are experiencing the love that God has filled us with by giving it away. By sharing it. By living in it. By walking in it!

Love is what matters. Truly. Living a life of love is really the only way to experience life to the fullest. Because living and loving aren't just connected, they are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. When God gave us His only begotten Son (Himself, His Spirit, His heart, His life), He gave us love. Because God is love. When you understand the concept that there are only two men who have ever lived--Adam and Jesus--you can see the difference between the two. Jesus is God's beloved Son, not because God loved Jesus and not Adam--of course He loved Adam. God is love. He loves everybody--but because Jesus let Himself BE loved. That's what "beloved" means. Jesus accepted God's love. He didn't try to earn it. He simply received it and released it. In the same way, we must receive and release God's love. Know it and believe it. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what God has filled us with. Yesterday we talked about how in order to walk in love you have to walk. You have to put your money where your mouth is. You can't just say, "Oh, you're hungry? I hope that works out for you." You have to see a need and, if at all possible, meet it. If you have two coats and someone is cold... give them one. Don't freeze to death because you gave away both your coats, but live out of your abundance. You are blessed to be a blessing. It's the idea of paying it forward. Giving what you've got. But you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So you have to know what you've got, in order to give what you've got. If you don't know you have love... you can't walk in it. But when you know that you are loved... that changes everything. The affirmation of a Father will always empower a Son. God's love inside us will equip and empower us to live! To love Him back by loving the people that we come into contact with. And that's what life is. That's what life is all about. We were created by the God who IS love, to be loved and to love. To experience love by giving it away. Because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. So when you're walking--and I use that picture of walking as a picture of living. How you walk is how you comport yourself. It's your lifestyle. And I believe it starts with that attitude of gratitude I'm so fond of preaching about. Being grateful for what you have instead of always being upset about what you don't. Experiencing and enjoying what you've got by giving it away. By sharing it. Things are ok by themselves... but things are always better when they are shared. A meal that you can share with someone is better than eating by yourself. Watching a TV show or movie with someone else who will appreciate it makes you enjoy it even more. What I'm trying to say is, it is not good for man to be alone. We are social creatures. SOME solitude is ok. Alone time is not a bad thing. At the same time, life is about relationships. It is about love. Connecting with people. That's why Paul wrote about being all things to all people. Finding that way to connect with someone. It's like when I'm at work. Some people I talk about our respective kids with. Some people I talk about music with. Some people sports. Or whatever. You can find that common ground and build your relationship from there. And that, to me, is what it means to walk in love. You don't have to walk the same speed with everybody. You just have to find the rhythm and pace that matches each individual person. And that, friends, is love. Loving people the way THEY need to be loved!

You can't walk in love--or live in love--without walking. When the rubber meets the road is when you actually put heel to toe. When you get out there and DO something. Charity is love in action. Not just an idea. Look at James 2:15-16 (NLT), "Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"--but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?" I would say no good at all. Because it's not just about fancy words. Paul wrote, "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT). It's not about what you SAY, it's about what you DO. About putting your money where your mouth is, if I can say it that way. And let me say this: If you're waiting for someone else to make things better all the time... don't hold your breath. Be the change that you want to see in the world. If you want things to be better... inject love into the situation. Love is the only thing that CAN change things for the better. In the beginning when God's creation (you, and me, in our personal stories--which is history HIS story) was dark and void and without form... God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. Jesus is the light of the world. WE are the light of the world. God filled that void with the only thing that COULD fill it. Right? Only God can fill a God-shaped void. Only love can fill a love-shaped void. That's what we needed... so that's what He gave us. That's what we needed... and now that's what we have. And now, equally if not more importantly, that's what we KNOW we have. You can't believe what you don't know. Knowing and believing is the Divine Order of things. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God. When you hear that still, small voice deep inside you saying, "I love you, I love you, I love you" with every beat of God's heart in your chest... that's when you can begin to experience that love by giving it away. Because that's what love is--love is giving. It is never about getting. Walking in love is not about walking TOWARDS something, in the sense of "When I get there I'll get it." It's about walking IN something. Because we already have everything we need. Because we already have Jesus. Let me say it like this: Wherever you go... there you are. And whatever you bring with you... is what you have. If you're looking for something external, you're missing out on what is internal. When you know and believe that the love of God is already inside you, that's when you can fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. That's when you can let what's already inside come out. By giving it away. By sharing it. If you're stuck in the past, or caught up in the issues of what someone else has (or hasn't) done for (or to) you... then you're never going to be able to move forward. If it's me vs you... we both lose. If you have to lose in order for me to "win" is that really "winning" at all? But the tide raises all boats. Love is that tide. When I love you, I'm not only raising YOU, but also myself. At that point we can hold hands and walk together. We can walk IN LOVE together. And what's that old saying? "If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together." Things work out better when we work together. Because we're all in this together. And love is what binds us together--in a healthy, positive way. So it's not about lip service. It's not about SAYING the right thing. It's about charity. Love in action. DOING the right thing. Seeing a need and meeting it!

We all probably know about walking by faith, and not by sight. That's a pretty popular memory verse. We hear it all the time. But what does it really mean to walk by faith? Well, look at Mark 11:22 (NLT), "Then Jesus said to the disciples, "Have faith in God."" And then add Galatians 5:7 (NLT), "For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love." It all starts with God. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. The begining and the end. Walking by faith means walking by God. Letting your heavenly Father hold your hand and lead you, guide you, direct you, and protect you. Which means walking by love. Because faith works by love, or expresses itself in love. Of course it does. Have faith in God. God is love. Have faith in love. Express your faith by expressing your love. Now look at Ephesians 5:2, "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." In the NLT, "Live a life filled with love, following the example of Chirst. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God." Walking in love is living a life full of love. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Letting God love us and loving Him back by loving each other. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with so that it can come out of us... naturally... with every breath we take and every move we make. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abudantly. Love is what makes the abundant life... abundant. Love is what makes life worth living. Love is what makes life possible to live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. But here's the key--you can't walk by faith... without walking. A lot of time in the King James Version of the Bible the word "charity" is used for "love." And I didn't really understand that for a long time. Seemed abitrary and weird. But then the Lord told me that charity is love in action. It's more than just an idea. It's the act of love. The sacrifice of love. Because love is giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. Charity is where the rubber meets the road. Laying your life down for your friends--which is what Jesus described as the greatest love a man can have. And, by the way, He put His money where His mouth was on that one. He literally went to the cross and laid His life down for us. Gave His life for us, and gave His life to us. His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love! He didn't just talk the talk, He walked the walk. He didn't just tell us what love is. He showed us. He gave us everything He has and everything He is--so that we can have it. So that we can experience it. He walked the walk and now we can too. Not by trying to follow in His foot steps, but simply by letting HIm make His own foot steps with our feet. Living in Him by letting Him live in us. Living in LOVE by letting LOVE live in us. It's in there. All we have to do is let it come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Let it come out by filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Let it come out with every breath we take and every move we make. Let it come out by walking in it. Living a life full of love. Letting God love us and loving Him back by loving the people we come into contact with!

Forgiveness is important. Because if you need it, you're in jail cell. And if you don't give it... you're in a jail cell. Unforgiviness is a prison. Now watch this: "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37 NLT). And while this IS Jesus speaking (the red letters), this is Jesus telling us how things were in the Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant it was performance based. What you get depends on what you do. You earn your bread by the sweat of your brow. But that's not the more excellent way that Jesus came for us to have. Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane and sweated great drops of blood to redeem us from that curse. His blood is what really matters. His blood flowing through our veins. It's not what you do, it's who you are. That's what matters. It's not being forgiven because we forgive. Listen--you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. Look at Ephesians 4:32 (NLT), "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." Old Covenant--forgive and you will be forgiven. New Covenant--forgive BECAUSE you have been forgiven. When Jesus talked about forgiving seventy times seven times... He wasn't saying, "this is what you have to do, or else." He was, as always, showing us our heavenly Father. He was showing us just how forgiven we are. I'm convinced that you learn how to love by learning how you are loved. You learn how to forgive by learning how you are forgiven. Again, you can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. You can't love unless you know and believe that you are loved. And, to bring it back to what I said in the beginning of this Rant, when you are forgiven... the cell door is unlocked. When you forgive... the cell door unlocks. And once the cell door is unlocked... you can exit the cell. You don't have to be in prison anymore. Unforgiveness is so deadly because it keeps us focused on all of the wrong things. Sure, someone hurt you. That happens. And it might have been intentional, or it might not have. It doesn't really matter. Forgiveness isn't about them. It's about you. If you're holding on to bitterness, or resentment, or anger... you're hurting yourself. Think about it--if what you're mad about that someone did wasn't intentional, they might not even know you're mad. Or understand why you're mad. So you're hurting yourself, and them too. You're not enjoying a healthy relationship with them. And if it WAS intentional, you can choose to move past it in one of two ways: With them in your life or without them in your life. You don't have to let people who abuse you stay in your life. Boundaries are healthy and important. But either way, YOU need to move one from what happened. You need to forgive. You need to stop letting whatever happened control you in any way, shape, or form. Let go of it. Stop letting it have power over you. They say the best revenge is moving on. Living your best life. Forgiving people, so that YOU don't have to struggle with that resentment or that bitterness. So that YOU can have peace of mind!

Seven is an important number in the Bible. It is the number of perfection, or rest. God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh. If you are living from that posture of rest you are living in the seventh day. But, specifically for this Rant series, we are looking at it in the context of forgiveness of sins. And, even more specifically, us forgiving each other when someone sins against us. Now, before I drop my memory verse I just want to kind of reiterate that, to me, sin is unbelief. Not believing that God loves us. So when someone sins against you, that simply means they are acting without love. Which really means that they are acting from a place of not knowing that THEY are loved. So in that case, forgiveness would be about more than just saying, "I forgive you." It would be about loving them. Giving them what they think they don't have. Filling them up with what God has filled you with. Letting the love, and the truth, and the mercy, and the grace, and the forgiveness of God that's inside YOU come out. Ok. So look at 2 Chronicles 29:21 (NLT), "They brought seven bulls, seven rams, and seven male lambs as a burnt offering, together with seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the Temple, and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, to sacrifice the animals on the altar of the LORD." Seven is the number of sacrifice in this case. It is the burnt offering. The sin offering. And, like the woman at the well, it is culminated in Jesus. He was the seventh man. The perfect man. He is the once and for all offering. And look at 2 Kings 5:10 (NLT), "But Elisha sent a messenger out to him wtih this message: "Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy." And the remarkable thing about that story is that the man with leprosy wanted something hard. Some great feat. Probably so that he could feel like he "earned" his miracle. When, in fact, all he needed to do was wash. Seven times. The number of perfection. We always seem to want to make things harder than they are. We always seem to want to have to climb a mountain in order to get what God has for us. When, in truth, He has brought every mountain low and every valley high. He has made the way (that leads to life) both straight and narrow. And while some people might see this as restricting (guess what, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. You CAN do whatever you want but that doesn't mean you SHOULD) to me I think it makes things simple. And, if we ever stray to the left or the right, there's a voice from behind us (the work that was finished over 2,000 years ago) keeping us on the right track. So we don't have to wonder if we're doing the right thing--we just have to listen to our hearts. If you're doing it heartily, to the best of your ability and because it's in your heart to do it, you're doing the right thing. If you're doing it in love, for love, because of love, out of love... you can't go wrong. And that doesn't mean you will always get the outcome you think you will. Love is not about control. Love is simply about giving what you've got. Love is about seeing a need and meeting it. Love is about laying your life down for your friends. Receiving what God has given you and giving it back to Him back giving it to the people you come into contact with. So when we're looking at numbers in the Bible... seven is an important one. "Forgive someone, what? Seven times?" Nah. Seventy times seven! Forgive someone EVERY time. Because God has forgiven you... every... single... time!

Look at what Jesus actually said about "How many times should I forgive someone." Matthew 18:22 (NLT), "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!" Which, according to my math (which means, according to my calculator), is 490. Think about that. Even if we were to take Him exactly, precisely literally... when has anybody wronged you five hundred times? Think about the patience and longsuffering that would go into that amount of forgiveness. And think about the starting point. Because Peter started at seven. That was the number he brought into the negotiation. And that was the high end. That was the limit of what Peter thought was acceptable. "If I have to forgive this dude almost ten times... surely that's enough." But is it? Because if anybody has "sinned" against anybody more than seven times... it would probably be humanity "sinning" against God. And His forgiveness knows no limits. Jesus took away the sin of the world. God removed it as far as the East is from the West. Which is an important phrase, because you can only go North for so long before you start going South, but you can go East forever without ever hitting West. He threw it into a sea of forgetfulness. He forgave your sin... and blotted it out of existence. You know who dwells on your sin? YOU. You know who dwells on the sins of others? YOU. We even say things like, "I'll forgive you, but I'll never forget." And I understand where that sentiment comes from--fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME. Because once I knew better I shouldn't have let you fool me again. But Jesus had a more excellent way. He had a "turn the other cheek" way. And, as always, I'm not saying you should stand there and let someone slap you over and over again. I think you can set boundaries and stay out of toxic, abusive situations without holding grudges. And that's the key--if you hold a grudge, you're just hurting yourself. Forgiveness is like unlocking a prison cell and then realizing that YOU were the one in jail the whole time. And it doesn't matter if the person who needs forgiveness is sorry or not. That has nothing to do with anything. Forgiving someone is about YOUR peace of mind. It's about YOUR wholeness and wellness. It's about making sure that YOU can carry on without that bitterness and resentment holding you back. And, let me just say this clearly: I can't image a scenario in which you would have to forgive someone for the same thing 500 times... but if you ever find yourself in that position... keep on forgiving them. There is no limit. There is no, "You went too far." Not in God's eyes, and therefore not in ours. God forgave man once for all on the cross when His Son cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" And, really, at this point in my life, I don't want apologies from people anyway. Changed behavior is what matters. If you keep doing the same thing over and over... at some point something's gotta give. But it won't be me denying forgiveness. It won't be me holding on to things forever. I have to live my life. If someone doesn't fit into it because of the way they act... that's not me denying forgiveness. That's just me staying healthy on my own end. I believe it was Tupac who said, "Just because you lost me as a friend, doesn't mean you gained me as an enemy. I'm bigger than that. I still wanna see you eat, just not at my table." You can forgive someone and still choose not to let them keep abusing you. You can love someone from a distance.

Seventy times seven. The perfect number that doesn't mean, "Forgive people a bunch of times," but actually means... forgive people. Period. Numbers are important in the Bible. Seventy sets of seven was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel. Three is number of power--Father, Son, Holy Ghost. And then there's 666. Which people like to refer to as the sign of the devil, right? But--and I have to give my pastor credit for this, because I got it directly from him--if we look at the sixth verse of the sixth chapter of the sixth book of the New Testament we see something very different. Romans 6:6 (NLT), "We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin." 666... is the number of MAN. And, specifically, the death of the old man and the birth of the new! We are crucified with Christ. What happened to Him on the cross happened to us on the cross. When He was lifted up from the earth He drew all men into Himself. And planted Himself in all men. Drew us out of Adam and into Christ. Drew us out of death and into life. And not just "life" but HIS life. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. That's what the gift of God is. That's what we should be focused on. Not "how many times do I have to forgive someone?". That's really kind of a selfish mindset. "What's the bare minimum of what I can get away with?" If your goal is to get away with something... you need a new goal. If your goal is to experience this life we've been given to the fullest, well, now you're talking. If you're goal is to experience the gift that you've been given by sharing it... by giving it away... then you've really found the secret of life. What I'm trying to say today is that we don't have to find "bad" things in the Bible to be afraid of, or worried about, or fight against. The Bible contains the gospel. Gospel means "good news." Look at 2 Corinthians 4:20 (NLT), "For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for his glory." All of God's promises HAVE been fulfilled in Christ. That's a done deal. What happens is, when OUR yes matches HIS yes, that's when we EXPERIENCE those promises. Our response to what God has done. He made the Way of Grace. We respond with the Walk of Faith. Knowing and believing that we have what God says we have. That we can experience HIs life... because we died with Him. We died with Him on the cross, now we live with Him every day. Because He lives in us every day. When we start to understand what some of these numbers actually mean, instead of going to the worst case scenario with them, that's when we can get a deeper, fuller, better understanding of the finished work in our live. Who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and what that means for us. Those are the topics I wrote at length about in the "The Answer Trilogy." So if you want more, pick up Identity Crisis, Six Steps to the Throne, and EPIC. But in the meantime, stop living in fear and let the love of God--that is already inside you--flow out of you with every breath you take and every move you make!

We probably all know the story from Matthew chapter 18 which is headlined "The Unforgiving Servant." "Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!"" (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT). And I think, for the most part, this is preached as, "Give people a lot of chances," and kind of left at that. But, as usual, there's more to it than that. I don't believe Jesus was saying, "Give seventy seven chances and then on the seventy eighth transgression they're done for." I believe He was, as usual, bringing something out of the Old Covenant and into the new. Look at Daniel 9:24, "A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place." Seven sets of seven, or seventy weeks, was the timeframe for the end of one thing and the transition into something else. The end of the old and the beginning of the new. See, seven is a very powerful number in the Bible. God created for six days and then rested on the seventh. It is the day of rest. The perfect number. When Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well He said, "for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!" (John 4:18 NLT). The woman had been involved with six men, but the seventh man, the last man, the perfect man, had finally arrived on the scene. And that woman had a revelation of Jesus that changed her life. What I'm trying to say is, it isn't about the number of times someone does you wrong. It's about the appointed time of the Lord. Love is longsuffering, right? Because love endures. People are going to do things you don't like. "Sin against you" to put it in Peter's parlance. But here's the scoop--chances are, they weren't doing anything AGAINST YOU at all. I believe most of the time people are just trying to do the best they can to get from the start of the day to the end of the day. I believe that most of the time you're collateral damage to them, at best. They may hurt you, but probably because they aren't even thinking about you more than it ever being intentional. And I always say this too, "Don't take it personal, even if it is." Life is ten percent what happens to you, and ninety percent how you deal with it. If you're counting up all the times someone wrongs you, setting a limit and waiting for them to get there... are you really loving them? Because love doesn't keep a record of rights and wrongs. Love just... loves. No matter what. Love turns the other cheek. And I've said this many times too--I believe turning the other cheek is about NOT retaliating. It's not about standing there and letting people slap you over and over. Which, unfortunately, we've kind of taken to mean, "If you won't let me keep abusing you, you're punishing me." Breaking away from someone isn't punishing them. And it really doesn't have anything to do with forgiveness. You can forgive someone and still not associate with them. You can forgive someone and still have healthy boundaries. The point I'm trying to make--and point I think Jesus was trying to make--is that there is no limit to forgiveness. There is (or was, since it came in fulness 2,000 years ago on the cross) an appointed time of God. A perfect number for a perfect time. And that is where we are now. People get so twisted up with 666 and all of that stuff (and I think we'll look at 666, maybe tomorrow), when we really should focus on seven. Seventy sets of seven. Seventy seven. The end of the old and the beginning of the new!

Here's a question that I don't think is asked nearly enough: So what if the grass IS greener? Why does what someone else has have anything to do with you? Why are you worried about it? Why do you care? Why make yourself miserable comparing yourself (unfavorably) to anybody or anything else? Our key memory verse again: "Don't envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD" (Proverbs 23:17 NLT). And I'm not getting into the "sinners" part right now. If you want to know what I think about that, read my book "The Sin Issue" or listen to my Jesus Rant podcast. Today I'm wrapping up this Rant series with the very simple idea of "Don't envy." And according to dictionary.com the word "envy" means, "a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, posssessions, etc." Which, again, is the problem with thinking the grass is greener. We always see what someone else has as better. I'm telling you, there are people out there praying to get what YOU have. But when you only focus on what someone else has you miss out on what you have. You rob yourself from experiencing and enjoying what you have by neglecting it. One of--in my opinion--the biggest foundational stones for a Christ-like life is letting the mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you. Using what you've got. Appreciating what you've got. Experiencing and enjoying what you've got. And here's the thing, too: If you don't appreciate what you already have, why would anybody entrust you with anything else? You build your kingdom by helping others build theirs. Because it's a kingdom of love. And love is giving. It's never about getting. It's about receiving and releasing. Letting what's already inside come out by knowing and beleiving that it's in there. So what if somebody else's grass looks greener? That has nothing to do with you. Water your own grass. Don't covet. That's literally one of the Ten Commandments. And I'm not going to get into the Ten Commandments of the fulfillment of that Old Covenant that took place on the cross right now either. I'm simply saying, this is a concept we need to understand. If you're worried about what you don't have, you're not enjoying what you do have. The thief in John 10:10... is you. Trying to get into the sheepfold any other way but through the door. Missing out on what you have by neglecting it and only focusing on what you don't have, or what someone else has. Maybe you don't have it (right now) because God knows you can't handle it (right now). Remember that old song? "You can't always get what you want... but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need." Rolling Stones, right? Needs are more important than wants. God provides all our needs, according to His riches in glory. If you really think about it, we have no lack because our God has no lack. Seek the Kingdom first. Look at what you have. Explore the height and depth and length and breadth of God's love for you... by loving Him back... by loving people. Let what's inside come out. Naturally. By filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. And when your focus is on the love of God--living by loving and loving by living--you won't have the time or inclination to get all fired up about what you don't have or what someone else does. It won't matter to you. You'll be too busy enjoying the gift YOU'VE been given by giving it away. By sharing it. By letting what's inside come out. This life is lived from the inside out. What you believe is inside WILL come out. So make you know and believe the truth (of God's love) so you care share that truth (of God's love) and experience that truth (of God's love)!