On of my motto's is "Go Big or Go Home." Because I'm of the opinion that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. So when I think about things like 1 Corinthians 13:13, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity," I see something very important. Because while faith and hope are vitally important, the greatest of these--the greatest of ALL--is love. Let me say it another way, the way I've been saying it for years now, and the way I think I'm going to say it in my next "Jesus book." It's all about love. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, right? The beginning and the end? And God is love. So that means LOVE is the beginning and the end. And everything in between. So that's my focus. That's where my heart is. It's all about love. To live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other, and you can't do one without the other. It's the same thing. Carrie Underwood sings it like this, "What you got if you ain't got love? The kind that you just want to give away..." And I think that's what makes love the greatest. Because faith and hope are kind of building blocks to build yourself up with. (There's nothing wrong with that, at all. You need to find your strength in the thing, in the ONE, that faith and hope point to. Which is love.) But love isn't about what you get. It's about what you give. Look at what Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay his life down for his friends." And, listen, I get it. He was talking about physically dying both for us and as us. He was talking about the cross. Talking about what He was shortly going to do. And there have been martyrs that have physically done that. I would lay my actual physical life down for my son in a instant. Without a second thought. Because I have that kind of love for him. If it came down to, say, a car hitting me or a car hitting him...? You KNOW how that scenario is going to play out. He's not getting hit. But I also thing there is another level to what Jesus was saying. I think it's a little bit like when He told us to deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow Him. I don't think Jesus necessarily meant for us to stop being who we are. I think He was instructing us to take up our (HIS!) cross, and deny the old man that we had for so long believed we were. To stop dragging around that corpse and to start walking in newness of life. So when we're talking about the greatest love you can have for someone... laying your "life" down for them... I think maybe we're talking about Philippians 2:3, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." The first is last and the last is first, right? The greatest is becoming the least. Not stepping on someone else so you can seem bigger, but laying down and lifting others up. Putting the needs and wants of someone else ahead of your own. Esteeming someone else better than yourself. And by "better" I don't think we mean, "I'm horrible and she's awesome." Right? Being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It simply means thinking of yourself less. "Better" in the sense of how it's better (or more blessed) to give than to receive. Taking care of others instead of that selfish attitude of taking care of yourself. Love is the greatest. Because it's not about getting, it's about giving. And giving yourself (laying down your life) for someone else, is the greatest love you can have. Sacrificial love is the greatest of the greatest!

I can see the logic behind protecting yourself from "unloveable" or negative people. But I don't think closing your heart off to someone is really protecting yourself at all. I think it's hurting you, and it's hurting the person who probably needs love the most. Because if someone seems unloveable, that probably means they aren't getting any love. And let me say it like this: If loving people was easy, everybody would do it. But most people are so busy looking for love (in all the wrong places) they don't even think about giving love to anybody. Because you can't give what you don't have. Until you know--with a knowledge that passes knowledge, a heart knowledge not a head knowledge--that you are unconditionally loved... you will never be able to truly love anybody. Because love isn't about getting. It's about giving. Giving what you've got. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if you think you don't have love, you'll try to get it. And you'll cut off anyone who doesn't give it to you. But, guys, that's selfish. That's not what love is about, at all. Love is about meeting people where they're at and lifting them up as you both rise in love. Love is about building bridges, not walls to hide behind. I'm fully convinced (and I've Ranted and preached on this before) that in order to guard your heart you have to keep it open. You can't close it off, or shut it down. That's not guarding it. That's wasting it. And I know it's easy to judge by appearance. To see the surface stuff and deal with it on that surface level. But that's not what's real. The real is hidden a little deeper down. You know, the inner man. The hidden man of the heart. Not loving somebody because they're easy to love, but loving someone because Daddy loves you. And His love has filled you to overflowing. So that it's not even a conscious decision. It's not about pulling flower petals. "He loves me, He loves me not. I'll love. I won't love." It's just living. To live is to love and to love is to love. We can all be "unloveable" at times because we all do things that other people don't like. But if love is conditional--if it depends on how we act--then it's not love. Love is simply, "I have what you need, so let me share it with you." Love is simply, "I'm too full of love to keep it to myself. It overflows naturally with every breath I take and every move I make." That's what it means to live in Him. To let Him live in us. It means we love the unloveable. It means we let our light shine wherever we go. Not by trying really hard to make it shine, but by believing that HE is shining in us, and through us, and as us! So, as I've been saying for this whole Rant series, I don't think you should put yourself in a bad situation where you let other people crush you. You don't have to be a doormat and let people walk all over you. You can strengthen yourself in the Lord and share what you've got. Even if it's only a tiny bit at a time. You don't have to spend every second of every day with difficult people. But you can love them no matter what!

I think you have to have some balance. If you spend all of your time with negative people, it can drain you. But I'm fully convinced you shouldn't kick someone out of your life just because they can be a little hard to handle. The people who are the hardest to love are the people who need love the most. And if you--who know and believe that you are loved--don't give it to them... who will? How will rejecting someone get them to change? Don't we understand that it is the GOODNESS of God that leads to repentance? Don't we get it that the best way--the more excellent way--is to show someone something better than they've got? What I'm trying to say is, love them anyway. But you don't have to let people steamroll you either. Meekness is not weakness. It's strength under control. And yesterday we saw where we find that strength; in the Lord. And guess what: The best way to FEEL love is to love others. When Jesus was hungry and He sent the disciples to get Him some food He met a girl. And He ministered to her. And then the disciples came back and found Him no longer hungry. Jesus said, "...I have a kind of food you know nothing about" (John 4:32 NLT). "Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work" (John 4:34 NLT). See... when Jesus released it He received it. When He shared it, He made it real. He made it manifest. When we love the people that seem unloveable, not only do we change THEIR lives, but we change our own. Because we create an atmosphere of mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, and understanding, and acceptance... and love. We literally bring heaven to earth. And then everybody gets to experience it. But, like I said, balance. There are some people in my life that I just really can't spend that much time with. But those same people, if they asked for my help... I'd give it to them. I don't cut them out or leave them high and dry. I love them anyway. Even if it's in small doses. And I make sure I'm the thermostat and not the thermometer. I'm not TAKING the temperature, I'm SETTING the temperature. I'm not letting negativity pull me down, I'm letting love lift everyone up! Not falling in love, but rising in love! Because the truth of the matter is, we're all "unloveable" at times. We don't all get along and we don't always get along. But instead of building walls, we can still build bridges. One step at a time. One baby step at a time! You don't have to spend every second of every day with a difficult person. But if you give them a couple seconds a day you might just help them to be a little less difficult. They might just see something better than what they've got. And they might just repent--or change their mind--about a few things. They might just receive the love you're releasing, and then they might just release it themselves. Because it's too good and it's too big to keep inside. If we know and believe it's in there... it comes out!

There are times when everybody acts, or seems, unloveable. Even me. Even you. And that's why it's so important to understand that love is unconditional. It has nothing to do with actions, or feelings. True love--sacrificial agape God love--is about giving people what they need. And in that way, sometimes the most unloveable people are the people who you ought to love the most. Now, again, I'm not saying you should put yourself in a bad situation where you hurt or damage yourself. I always go back to the example of how when you're in an airplane they tell you if something happens you need to put your own oxygen mask on before you try to help anybody else. Because what good will you be to anybody if you're laying on the floor unconscious? You HAVE to take care of yourself. There's nothing selfish, or wrong, with that. Look at 1 Samuel 30:6, "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." David was facing a lot of people who needed his help. And they were turning on him out of their fear and desperation. So what did David do? He encouraged himself in the Lord. Other translations say he strengthened himself in the Lord, or found strength in the Lord. Because that's what he needed. He needed strength in order to be strong for others. It's like Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." We all have times of need. We all run into situations--or people--that test us. But we can either try (and fail) to handle it with our own strength... or we can strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We can run around like chickens with our heads cut off... or we can come boldly to the throne of grace. People who seem unloveable need grace, right? And where do we find it? At the throne of grace, of course! We find it where Noah found it; in the eyes of the Lord. And then when we receive that grace--because, again, we need it just as much as anybody--then we can release it. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So first receive God's grace... strengthen yourself in Him... then release what you've got. Share what you've got. Love people even when "they don't deserve it." Because when it comes to love, deserve's got nothing to do with it. When it comes to love... we can all act unloveable. But more importantly... we are all worthy of love. For God so loved the WORLD--His entire creation and everything and everyone in it--that He gave His only beloved Son. He drew us ALL into Himself when He was lifted up from the earth on the cross. Because He loved (loves) us all. He loves us at our best, and at our worst, and all the times in between. What am I saying? Don't judge people according to appearance. Judge righteous judgment. Which means... love people. No matter who, no matter what. Love, because He first loved us. Love, because you're filled to overflowing with it. Not because you think somebody deserves it or not...!

Here's what I'm NOT saying: I'm not saying you should put yourself in a bad situation. I'm not saying you should let people steamroll over you. Meekness is not weakness. It's strength under control. When I'm talking about loving the unloveable, about not kicking someone out of your life just so you can avoid their negativity, I'm talking about sharing what you've got. And here's a newsflash: To some people YOU seem unloveable. To some people YOU are super annoying and need to be avoided at all costs. That's just the way it is. We all interact in different ways. It's the principle from that 5 Languages of Love book, right? Not everybody loves in the same way. And not everybody receives love in the same way. Some people you just can't reach. And that's ok. Because maybe you can't reach them... but maybe I can. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Do your best. If you do all you can do it's either enough, or it's not. But I think people are worth the effort. In fact, I think people are just about the only thing that is worth the effort. So we shouldn't write people off because they rub us the wrong way. Chances are, if they're hard to love that means they need it the most because they aren't getting it. And since we have it, we ought to share it. As much and as liberally as we can. Without really even trying. Just letting God's love fill us to overflowing and come out naturally. But most of the time we're so focused on other things--other people--that we forget about ourselves. We forget about how loved WE are. Even when WE are unloveable. In your worst moment, God still said, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." He still said, "I love you." Because that's what love is; it's unconditional. It has nothing to do with behavior, and it has everything to do with identity. Nothing to do with what you do and everything to do with who you are. So if we're judging people by what they do, and withholding love for that reason, then we don't really understand love at all. Love isn't something you CAN withhold. Love is life. If you don't love, you abide in death. And both of those things--life and death--feed on themselves. Life, when it is truly lived (by receiving and releasing the love of God) becomes ABUNDANT life. Death, when you dwell there, keeps pulling you further and further down until you're buried underneath a mountain of it. The surface stuff can add up really quickly if you let it. You start by "getting rid of the negative people" and then you start finding negativity in everyone. Start getting rid of everyone. And then you find yourself all alone. (And, we KNOW that we're never all alone because Jesus lives in us and swore that He would never leave us nor forsake us, but without other people it sure can FEEL lonely.) Here's my point for today: I'm not saying you need to be best friends with everybody whose alive. I'm simply saying we are ALL worthy of love, no matter who we are or what we've done. So be kind. Let what's in you come out and get all over anybody and everybody that you come into contact with!

I generally don't like to attack things. I think the only fight we need to concern ourselves with is the good fight of faith. You know, laying hold of eternal life. Receiving (and releasing) the gift we've been given. But sometimes I see something that, as my younger brother would say, really grinds my gears. And usually I'll let it go. I try not to get worked up over stuff. But this particular idea keeps cropping up. Like it's one of the blocks our current version of "Christianity" is being built on. And whether or not it's necessarily my "job" to kick this certain table over... I feel pretty stongly about it. So I'm going to at least say my peace about it. Ok. Ready? This is what I hear. A lot. "You have to get the negative people out of our life or they'll drag you down to their level." And, on the surface, that seems like good, sage, wise advise. Things like, "You the CEO of your life. You have power over the personnel in it. Hire positive people and fire negative people" seem to be in our faces all the time. Everywhere we look it's all about getting more good and getting rid of evil. Guys... do you see where I'm going with this? We are not supposed to discern BETWEEN good and evil and try to maximize one and minimize the other. Look at Hebrews 5:14, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." We are supposed to discern BOTH good and evil. We are supposed to see that BOTH good and evil come from the same tree. The tree of death. And we are supposed to eat ONLY from the Tree of Life! And the fruit of the Tree of Life is the Fruit of the Spirit, which is love. Let me say what I'm trying to say in a different way: If someone is unloveable, and you don't love them, who do you think will? If someone is negative, and you kick them to the curb... what do you think will happen to them? Do you think being rejected by you will make them less negative? Or do you think the hurt and the bitterness that makes them negative in the first place will simply feed and grow? Let me say it another way, "When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners"" (Mark 2:17 NLT). Everybody needs love. Not just those that are loveable, or likeable. Everybody. And those that aren't getting it need it the most! Sick people need a doctor. Unloveable people need love. And true love is not about what you can get from someone, it's about what you can give to someone. You don't love people because it's easy, or because THEY are easy to love. You love people because God first loved you. You receive His love and release it. You don't arbitrarily choose who "deserves" love, who "deserves" to be in your life, and who doesn't. You just love. Because you've been filled to overflowing WITH love. Because, just like Daddy, that's not just what you do. That's who you are!

Jesus came to improve things. And He did so by making all things new. Not by rejecting what was already there and starting over--not by making all new things--but by recreating the world in His image. The Messianic rebirth of the world. And, of course, in order to give a new birth He had to first give a second death. That was the cross. That was Jesus drawing us into Himself and laying His life down so that He could take it back up. Giving His life for us and giving His life to us. So that we could have it. So that we could have life and have it MORE ABUNDANTLY. And what makes abundant life so abundant? In a word--LOVE. When God poured His Spirit out on all flesh... when God moved into the neighborhood, into US... He gave us a love receptor. He gave us the ability to receive (and release) His love. The cross didn't all of a sudden change us into something God could love. He already loved us. Always has and always will. That's not just what God does. That's who God is. No, what the cross did was transform us into something that RECEIVE His love. Something that could know and believe His love instead of toiling and sweating to try to earn it. Something... new. New and improved. Not just life, but abundant life. A life full to overflowing with love. Where instead of trying to fill a hole that we feel deep inside, we are bursting at the seams with the one thing that every living thing needs. See, God didn't just hit a cosmic reset button and tell us to try again and hope we do better this time. Jesus didn't just give His life for us so that we could get free of the bondage of sin and death. (He did that, but He didn't JUST do that.) He also gave His life TO us so that we could have something better than we ever thought was possible. So that we could have more than we could ever ask for or even think about. So that we could realize our EPIC (Eternal Purpose In Christ) Destiny and live a life worth living. A life where we CAN obey the New Commandment. Remember now, no one could keep the Law of Moses. Not even Moses himself. But now, on this side of the cross, we have been equipped and empowered to keep the New Commandment. To love one another as Jesus loves us. Because now, on this side of the cross, we know how much Jesus loves us! He loved us enough to lay His life down for us. And to pick it back up and give it to us. He loves us with every breath we take and every move we make. Because in Him we live and move and have our being and in us He lives and moves and has His being! He dwells in us even as we dwell in Him! That's what newness of life is all about. That's what Resurrection Life is all about. It's about being free FROM sin and death... and free TO live. Free to love! Because to live IS to love and to love IS to live! Jesus came to make things better. And He did that by showing us the Father. Showing us love. GIVING us love so that we would have something to give to each other!

Abundant, eternal, everlasting, Resurrection Life is the gift of God. And God doesn't give His Son(s) junk. When He made all things new, He also made all things improved. He defeated death in order to make life everlasting. Eternal. And He gave us His Spirit--the Spirit of truth... the love receptor--so that we could receive (and release) His love. So that we could experience a life that's full of love. An abundant life. See, Jesus didn't come just so we could keep on struggling. He came to improve the human condition. He came to heal the sick, to feed the poor. He came to make things better. Everywhere He went, that's what He did. He made things better. He wasn't just a thermometer, taking the temperature of the room. He was a thermostat. He SET the temperature. And He equipped and empowered us to do the same thing. Remember when Peter walked past a sick person and his shadow fell on the man and healed him? That's the kind of love we have inside of us. And when we believe it's in there, it overflows out of us. Effortlessly. Naturally. Just by us being there. Just by us being... us. I'm telling you: God made you SPECIFICALLY you. When He made all things new (and improved) He didn't make all new things. He took you just as you were and filled you with Himself. So that when you present your body as a living sacrifice you begin to see that the key word is "living." Dead to sin and alive unto God. Being who you are, but doing in a way that glorifies the Father. I'll use myself as the example, as I often do. I'm a writer. And some people (believe it or not) think I'm a pretty good writer. But it wasn't until I started writing about Jesus that I actually accomplished anything. See, it wasn't about me being someone else. It wasn't about me NOT writing. It was about me being me. It was about me letting Jesus be HIM in me, and through me, and as me. And now I've published a bunch of books, and even sold a few copies of them! Because I presented my body as a living sacrifice. Because I started to live in Him and let Him live in me. Still being myself, but doing in a way that I knew would make Daddy proud. Letting Him have His will and His way in my life. And in that way partaking of His Divine Nature. In that way EXPERIENCING His life. That life of love. Letting Daddy love me and loving whoever I come into contact with. Receiving and releasing the gift I've been given. The gift of a new life. Newness of life! The gift of knowing who I am so I don't have to try to be someone I'm not. The gift of knowing God as Father and knowing that I am His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind but now I see. Was dead... but now I live, because Jesus lives in me! I'm new. I'm not a sinner... I'm a saint. The old man is dead and gone. Buried in the watery grave of baptism. The new has come forth and it's better than anything we could ever ask for or even think! Because it's love. Love, love, and more love. A life overflowing with LOVE!

Not just life... ABUNDANT life! Not us trying to live Jesus' life (which is impossible, because only Jesus can live Jesus' life) but Jesus living His own life in us, and through us, and as us. That, in a nutshell, is what it means to walk in newness of life. And I feel like I always kind of grope for things in the Bible, and get the gist of them, but then sometimes I like to actually quote them. So here's what I think I'm talking about: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). See, there were two deaths. Our first death was in Adam in when he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God said that on the day he ate of the tree of death he would surely die. And then our second death was in Jesus on the cross. He was lifted up from the earth and He drew us all into Himself. Then He died. And we died. Which, contrary to what seems to be popular belief, wasn't a bad thing. It was a good thing. Because out of death came life. Abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! A new and improved life! HIS life. Because when Jesus died He didn't just give His life for us. He also gave His life TO us. So that we could have it, experience it, and enjoy it! So that we could walk in it, even as He walks in us! And I don't want to belabor the point, but I always like to point out that we're NOT "walking it out." It's NOT something we do in our own power. Because, really, we don't have any power. It's not by might, nor by power. It's by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of Love. The Spirit of Life! Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God is love. It's all connected. It's all the same thing! An abundant life is a life filled to overflowing with love! That's what makes it abundant. That's what makes it IMPROVED. See, Adam's problem was that he felt like God's love was too good to be true. Because He wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit--the love receptor. So he tried to earn that love that he so desperately desired by the sweat of his brow. He didn't know it was a gift. And that's the key. You can't earn a gift. You can only be given a gift, and then receive a gift. You can only fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of the gift you've already been given. Apprehend what you've already been apprehended of. BE transformed into what you've already been transformed into. You can't earn newness of life. You simply walk in it. Because Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again. Both for you and as you. Which means YOU'VE died, and been buried, and rose again. The old passed away. Buried in the watery grave of baptism. And the new has come forth. Raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father so that we can SEE that glory (in the mirror, with an unveiled face) and BE that glory as we are changed into that same image FROM glory TO glory! Glory to God! All I'm trying to say is that we don't have to try. We don't have to earn. An inheritance can't be earned. It is handed down from Father to Son. A gift can't be earned. The wages the Bible talks about are the wages of sin. Which are death. And we're not dealing with death anymore. That enemy has already been defeated. We're dealing with life. New and improved, abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! HIS life. Newness of life! We're talking about living. And since living and loving are the same thing... you know we're talking about loving!

Remember that old TV show, the Six Million Dollar Man? "We can rebuild him. We have the technology." In a sense, this is exactly what happened on the cross. Look at Luke 23:42-43, "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Now I don't think the thief--who, in my opinion represents Adam--was hoping Jesus wouldn't forget his name. We never even know the man's name. I think he was asking Jesus to re-member him. To put him back together. To make him new. And Jesus promised something great: "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Isn't it interesting that this thief, this sinner, didn't have to go through any kind of deathbed confession or anything? I'll leave that alone for now though.) I guess what I'm trying to say is: Heaven isn't just somewhere we go when we die--IF we die. Heaven is where we went when JESUS died both for us and as us! He brought heaven to earth. Which is exactly what He taught His disciples to pray for. He didn't teach them to pray for an escape from the world. In fact, He said the direct opposite. "I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one" (John 17:15 NLT). Don't take them out of the world, because I'm making it all new. Keep them safe from the evil one, the accuser, the liar. Help them to fight the good fight and faith and lay hold of eternal life. THAT was Jesus' prayer. He knew that in this world we would have tribulation. But He also knew we could be of good cheer because HE had already overcome the world. Changed the world. And here's why that's important: You weren't called to be a world changer, or a history maker. You were called to be a Son. A Disciple. You were called to love. (Fun fact: Love, in a sense, changes the world by manifesting the change that took place on the cross!) Jesus said people would know His disciples because of the love they had for one another. So this remembering, this putting us back together that took place 2,000 years ago when we entered into paradise--New Jerusalem--with Jesus was simply the Father filling us with His Spirit. Filling us to overflowing with His Spirit, so that the love inside us can overflow out of us as we receive it and release it! That's what makes the New Man... new. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth. And that's HOW we fight the good fight of faith. That's HOW we lay hold of the gift we've been given. It's all about what He did, and it's all about HIM living in us, and through us, and as us. HE is the New Man. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart that is no longer hidden! In the beginning the heaven and the earth (the mind and the body... you!) was dark and void and without form. Then God spoke. And He said, "Let there be light." He filled us up. He remembered us. He made us new. And not just new, but new and improved. He had the technology--of course He did, He created us!--and He knew exactly what we needed. We needed the truth. The Way. The Life. We needed Jesus. So He gave Himself to us. Gave His life for us, and gave His life to us. So that we could have it. Experience it. Share it. So that we could truly live an abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life full of love!