In my opinion, there is nothing more important in this world than how you treat people. I beileve the two most important things in the world are God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. If it's all about love--and I believe it is--then it's all about treating people right. Treating people with dignity, and respect, and honor. Treating people with grace, and mercy, and kindness. Treating people... with love. And the thing about love is that it comes out from within. It isn't dependent on what people do (or don't do) for you, or to you, or around you. It's all about letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. How you treat people says nothing about them but everything about you. Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it. You can always react with patience. No matter what happens. You don't have to freak out. You don't have to hit back. Life hits hard. But the key is to just keep moving forward. They said the best revenge is to just be happy. To not take things personally, even if they are meant that way. Because no matter how the world means it... "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). Or, "...we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). If we can stop for a minute and focus on the bigger picture, the grand scheme, we will be able to see that things happen for a reason. They might not always feel good, but they are working together for good. Even when people are "out to get you" (which, by the way, I believe happens WAY less than we think it does. I think we are more likely collateral damage than the object of someone's negative energy. I think people try to take care of themselves and inadvertantly hurt us in the process more than actually trying to get us) God can use it for your good. Can... and will. Wants to. So we don't need to fight back. We don't need to retaliate. We know that our heavenly Father has our backs. He has our best interests at heart. And that's what matters. We don't need to worry about what tomorrow holds, when we know who holds tomorrow. So no matter how other people are acting... we can be who we truly are. In our patience do we possess our souls. In our love do we display--and experience--our true selves. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That's who we really are. And that's how we ought to treat each other. Just loving people no matter what. Just loving people first, last, and always. Alpha and Omega. Beginning and end. And everything in between. When we hold fast to love and fill ourselves to overflowing with it... that's when we can treat people right. That's when we can treat people... like people. That bottom line basic level of humanity. "I love you. Not because of what you've done, but because of who you are. Because of who I am. Because of who God is!"

This, to me, is the goal. I always talk about how love is the whole point of the whole thing, right? But what does that look like? "You can develope a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor" (James 3:18 MSG). There's a lot here. But we see that word "dignity" again, first things first. Treating people with dignity. Finding a baseline level of treating people... like people. Of letting people be who they are, and loving them for who they are. I think that's something that gets lost a lot of the time. Like we immediately judge people from our own perspective. And if they line up with us--with our way of thinking, or our beliefs--then we can love them. But love is unconditional. There are no hoops to jump through in order to receive love. Well, let me rephrase that: There are no hoops to jump through in order to receive love from our heavenly Father. And, as such, there shouldn't be any hoops to jump through in order to give and receive love from each other. Love is not earned. It is freely received and freely given. But what I like about our verse in James is that it puts it right out there: You enjoy the results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other. You reap what you sow, right? And, again, as always, I'm not talking about earning things from our heavenly Father. He gave us everything He had when He gave us His only begotten Son, so that we might not perish but have everlasting life. When He gave His life for us--and gave it TO us--He gave us everything. Everything He has and everything He is. Everything we could or would or will ever need. He wanted the best for us, so He gave the best to us. That's not what we need anymore. It's what we have. What's important now is what we do with what we have. We have been equipped and empowered to love each other. To obey the New Commandment that says we are to love one another as Jesus loves us. Now we have to actually put the work in and do it. Rest is not inactivity. It is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit always (only) directs us to love. Love is not inactivity. Love is maximum effort. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. Loving people no matter what. The goal is a healthy, robust community, right? Those relationships, and bonds, and connections that I'm always going on about. Well, if it's worth doing... it's worth doing right. Putting the hard work in. And, by putting the hard work in... getting to a place where it's not always so hard. Exercising those muscles so that they get stronger. Sometimes you have to force yourself to be nice to people. But to me, that's not being fake. That's being mature. That's loving people even when you don't "feel" like it. Loving people unconditionally. Putting in the maximum effort of love to give people what they need, instead of always expecting them to have, or give you, what you need. Putting others first IS hard work. But it's so worth it. Because it is more blessed to give than to receive. If you want to feel love... love somebody! Treat them with kindness, and respect, and honor, and dignity!

How you treat people is important. Those bonds, those connections, those relationships are what life is all about. The most miserable people--in my opinion--are those who constantly push people away. And I understand about trauma. I understand that our past relationships go a long way in defining our current and future relationships. Everybody is going through stuff. And everybody has been through stuff. But that's why it's so important that we treat people kindly. That's why it's so important that we're gentle with people. If someone is, as the old saying goes, "on their last nerve," or if they're right on the edge of the cliff... it might not take much to push them over. And if your goal is to push someone over the edge... you need a new goal. Seriously. People don't go around destroying people. That's not how life works. Look at 1 Peter 2:17 in the Message Bible. "Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government." And, by the way, I'm not touching that last one. Not here and now. I really just want to focus on the first one. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Treat people... like people. I bring up a line from one of my favorite movies a lot, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." And I like to apply it to love. Because we don't have to do anything to earn love. Or deserve love. But there's another way to say that. Or think about it. Because the truth of the matter is that we all deserve love. Just by being human. Not because of what we do, but because of who we are. The God who IS love created us in order to express Himself (His love) to us. And in us. And through us. And as us. It's all about love. Receiving and releasing the love of God. That, friends, is how we should treat each other. That's what it means to treat each other with dignity. And there's quite a lot to be said about treating someone else the way you want to be treated... even when you're not feeling it. Ministering out of your own hurt can be so powerful. Because it's real. When you've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt... that's when you can really share yourself. Give yourself. That's how those bonds, connections, and relationships are built. By giving yourself to someone else. By putting others first. By treating people softly. Gently. With dignity. When I think of dignity, I get this picture in my head of an invilid. Someone drooling all over themselves without being able to help it. And then someone else coming in and gently wiping their face. Because it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, what you're about... you deserve better than to sit there with drool all over you. So even when someone else makes their own mess... even when someone stumbles and falls all on their own... you don't have to kick them when they're down. You should never look down on anybody... unless you're reaching down to help them up. You can help people clean up a mess, whether you had anything to do with making it or not. You can be kind. You can help people. We're all in this together. And things work out better when we work together. It can be hard to put others first... but it's always worth it.

I think an underlying theme that I've been a bit stuck on lately is how we treat people. Being graceful. Being peaceful. Being patient. Letting people be who they are and loving them for who they are. I want to continue that here. And I want to use Romans 14:1 in the Message Bible as my key memory verse, "Welcome wtih open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with--even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently." And I really want to focus on those last two sentences. "Treat them gently" is what we should do with everybody. Always. "Remember, they have their own history to deal with" is what will allow us to treat them gently. Empathy. Walking a mile in someone else's shoes. What's that old saying? Everybody is fighting a battle you know nothing about--be kind. Something like that. And that's the spirit of it, anyway. We all go through things. We all find ourselves--at least sometimes--just trying to get from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. Life is hard. It's full of tribulation. Life happens. Every single day. And the thing about life is that whatever is going to happen... is going to happen. We can't really stop life from happening. Life is ten percent what happens to you... and ninety percent how you react to it. Your relationship with people is ten percent how they act... and ninety percent how you react. What I'm trying to say is: You can do a lot to make things good. You don't always have to be the victim. Don't take it personal, even if it is. Understand that, just in the same way that you are going through things... other people are too. People are going through the same things you are. And different things too. Sometimes you can help people get through what they're going through because you've been through it already. Learning and growing... and being able to help others. That's why we go through things. But sometimes people are going through things that we have no experience with. And in those times... all we can do is be kind. All we can do is treat them gently. Everybody has a past. Everybody has--in large manner--been shaped by the things they've gone through. And that means good, bad, and ugly. Sometimes you go through something and it makes you stronger, immediately. But sometimes you go through something and it takes a long time to process it. To deal with it. To understand and accept and be able to learn and grow from it. And that's ok. Nobody else can put a timeline on your healing process. We're all running the same race--life. But we're not all taking the same path, or going at the same speed. And that's ok. How you treat someone--in the midst of everything YOU'RE going through--says everything about YOU and not much at all about them. How people treat you says nothing about you and everything about them. We need to realize and understand that we're all in this together. We need to realize and understand that we are all going through stuff. And we need to treat each other with a basic human decency. A kindness. We need to be gentle with each other. Because it's all about how we treat people.

If you can be patient, you can be yourself no matter what. You can check yourself before you wreck yourself. You can make sure things don't get into you, even as you go through things. We all have to go through things. That's what this life is. In this world we WILL have tribulation. That's just life, man. Stuff happens. Every single day. It's not about what happens though. It's about how you deal with what happens. How you handle it. And, because of Jesus--who IS our peace--we can be of good cheer. In the midst of our trials and tribulations. No matter what is going on around us, we can stay true to ourselves. Because the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. Like those three Hebrews boys who were thrown into the fiery furnace. They weren't burned by the fire around them. In fact, the only thing that did get burned was their bonds got burned off. They didn't freak out in the midst of their trials and tribulations. They simply trusted God to keep them safe. And He did. Because even though three men were thrown into the fire... four men were IN the fire. And the forth was the Son of God! Jesus is always right there with us no matter what. Psalm 139:8 tells us, "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." Wherever we go, there we are. And there HE is. So we can be patient with each other. We can give people exactly what they need. And it starts with patience. With letting people be who they are instead of thinking we need to convince, or force, them to be who we think they ought to be. That's not our job. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict people. The Holy Spirit testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. The Holy Spirit tells us who we really are by telling us who Jesus really is. And if the Holy Spirit can't "change" people--by revealing to them that they HAVE been conformed to the image of God's Son--what chance do I have? Especially when it's more likely that I'm trying to change them into who I WANT them to be, rather than necessarily who GOD wants them to be. You don't have to be who I want you to be. But it would be in your best interest to be who God wants you to be. Who He created you to be. My point is, when you stop trying to control people and just love them, that's when you can really build a bond. Or a connection. Or a relationship. That's when you can really influence people. Not by trying to get them to conform. But by freeing them. By letting them be who they are. By showing them who they REALLY are. Someone worthy of love. No matter what. And, guys, that takes patience. Because people WON'T always (or ever) be who YOU necessarily think they should be. And that's ok. They don't have to. You're not the boss of them. So be patient with people. Even while they are learning and growing. Because we are all always learning and growing. That's what life is all about; learning to love as we learn how we are loved. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes... patience.

I like first Thessalonians. Always have. My very favorite Bible verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." So today I want to sum up what I think I've been trying to say in this Rant series with a verse from 1 Thessalonians. Chapter 5, verse 14, "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men." A little bit of patience goes a long way. Like, here's something for this guy. And here's something for this guy. But this--patience--is for all guys! No matter what else you do, if you're being patient... you're off to a good start. Kind of like how Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body--is the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. The first and the last. It starts with love and it ends with love. Love is patient. WE are patient BECAUSE we love. Because we ARE love. Everything that love is, is everything that we are. Not just what we do. Who we are. If love is patient, we are patient. And, yes, it is like a muscle. Yes, you have to exercise it in order to help it grow. But it's in there. It's available to us. Here's what I do: Think about the times someone needed to be patient with us. And it doesn't matter whether they were or weren't. Because if they were, then we know what it's all about. But if they weren't, then we know how things could have been done differently and better. You can learn and grow from the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you're patient enough to get the lesson instead of just the stressin'. Things are going to happen. And there's nothing you can do about that. In this world you will have tribulation. But you can be of good cheer. You can enjoy the ride. You can let things play out instead of losing your cool. And in your patience, you possess your soul. In your patience--in the way you treat others--you show who you really are. How you treat others says nothing about them but everything about you. So find out what people need. Love them in the ways that they need to be loved. Let it start with patience. Let it start with rest. Let it start with love. And then it can end with rest, and love, and patience. Life is so much better if you're not freaking out all the time. If you don't sweat the small stuff, and if you realize that to God--to you!--it's all small stuff. Now, I'm not saying nothing is important. I'm saying you don't have to make mountains out of molehills. I'm saying you can let things be what they are. You can let things develope. You can live your life with the understanding that all things work together for good. You can trust that your heavenly Father has a master plan for you. That He has your best interests at heart. You can let people be who they are, without trying to change them. Instead of fighting everything and everybody every step of the way you can rest. You can be patient toward all men. You can live and let love. Love no matter what. Let what's inside--the love of God--come out by knowing and believing that it's in there!

There's a quote by Rudyard Kipling--or perhaps a paraphrase--that goes, "If you can keep your wits with you while all others are losing theirs', the world is yours." Or, in other words, "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Luke 21:19). When you lose your cool... you lose yourself. You stop being who you are and you start being someone less. Let me quote another of my favorite Bible verses, this one from the Message Bible, "Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, "Faint-heart, what got into you?"" (Matthew 14:31).  This is when Peter was walking on water with Jesus. Or, more accurately, walking on the Word of the Lord. Because it was Jesus saying, "Come," when Peter asked if he could that really empowered the disciple. It wasn't about the water. It was about trusting Jesus. Obedience is a trust issue. If you believe that your heavenly Father has your best interests at heart... it won't be a problem for you to do what you're told to do. In fact, you'll be able to understand that what God wants for you is the best thing going. You'll be right there with Him. On the same page. You'll WANT to do what He wants you to do. Which, by the way, in a Word, is love. He wants you to love. To be loved and to love Him back by loving others with that love. To receive and release His love. That's what this life is for. That's why we were created. That's what it's all about. Now, having said all that, patience is so important to love. Because love does not demand its (HIS) own way. God knows what's best for you. He wants what's best for you. But He's not going to force it on you. He makes things available. He makes the Way (and the Truth, and the Life) of Grace. And then we respond with the Walk of Faith. He shows us the Way, and then equips and empowers us to walk it. With Him. As He walks it Himself in us, and through us, and as us. Nobody can live Jesus's life except Jesus. All we have to do is let Him. All we have to do is rest in His loving arms. All we have to do is be cool. Do things heartily--to the best of our ability, because they are in our hearts to do them--from a posture of rest. We don't have to fix every single problem in the world. Which is good... because we can't. You weren't called or created to be a world changer. You were called and created to love. Which, by the way, WILL change the worlds of the people you are loving. If you want to change the world, go home and love your family, right? It's that simple. We don't have to wear ourselves out trying to be someone we're not. Or trying to do things we weren't meant to do. Sometimes things need to happen. Sometimes we can't stop it, because we aren't supposed to. Some things we need to go through in order to get where we're going. The key is make sure we're going through things instead of letting things go through us. Jesus asked "What got into you?" Because it's supposed to be what's ALREADY in us--the love of God--getting OUT of us. Not the other way around. But we get so caught up with the storm sometimes that we lose sight of the Lord. Don't tell God how big the storm is. Tell the storm how big God is! Don't let things get into you. Let things get out of you! Don't lose your cool, or your true self, or your soul. Be patient. Let things play out. And help where you can!

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Believe it or not. It's easy to lose control. Especially if you're not patient. If you think you always need to be DOING something. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes we need to let things play out instead of always trying to force them to be what we think they should be. It took me a long time to learn this lesson, but learn it I did: Just because something is right for ME, doesn't mean it is right for YOU. Because you and I are different. And that's ok. In fact, that's beautiful. That's perfect. That's just how it should be. My best me isn't necessarily your best you. So look at our key memory verse for this Rant series: "In your patience possess ye your soul" (Luke 21:19). It's kind of like, "You aren't really you when you're hungry." When you lose your patience you aren't really you. You lose yourself to the circumstances you find yourself in. Which, in truth, is tragic. Because the fire in you is ALWAYS hotter than the fire you're in. You don't have to be a thermometer. You don't have to just take the temperature of the room and accept it. You can be a thermostat. You can SET the temperature. You can, when you know you have the peace of God inside you, make peace. You can, when you understand that Jesus overcame the world, be of good cheer even in the midst of tribulation. You don't have to let things get into you, when you know what's already in you. When you're full of the Holy Spirit... there isn't room for anything else. If you turn on a light in a dark room... it's not a dark room anymore. There isn't room for both light and dark. There isn't room for both love and fear. Full of one means empty of the other. There isn't room for rest and impatience. If you're not resting, then you're working. And work doesn't work, spiritually speaking. You can't earn a gift. Jesus's eternal, everlasting, abudant, Resurrection Life of love is the gift of God. We don't need it, because we already have it. We simply need to experience it (and enjoy it) by sharing it. By giving it away. Patience is being who YOU are no matter what is going on around you. No matter how other people are acting... you can always be yourself. The way people treat you says more about THEM than about YOU. The way YOU react says everything about you. I once heard it said life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it. You can fly off the handle, but that's no good for anybody. Or you can possess your soul. You can stop letting external forces dictate who you are. You can let what's inside come out instead of letting things from outside come in. You can check yourself before you wreck yourself. You can be who you are (who you really are, who you are in Christ, who Christ is in you) no matter what. You can be patient. You don't always have to react right away. Don't take things personally, even if they are. Control yourself. By letting love control you. By letting the Spirit lead you and guide you and direct you and protect you. When you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off you're not you. When you're patient, you possess your soul. When you're at rest, you are who you really are!

I really think a lot of the time we are a microwave society. We want it hot and now, if I can say it that way. Instant gratification. We have this snapshot mentality where we think what is happening right now is somehow what has always happened and what will always happen. When we know (and a deeper level) that that's just not true. We know that it came to pass, not to stay. We know that all things are working together for our good. We just need the patience to let things play out. Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say. So here's my memory verse for today, and for this Rant series, "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Luke 21:19). When we lose control because of whatever is happening around us... we also lose control of what's in us. We lose ourselves. But if we can be patient with people (and places, and things) we can continue to be who we are (who we really are, which is who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us) no matter what. Look at Romans 5:3, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience." You can have patience at all times, right? But when you really need it... is when you really need it. What's that old saying? Christians are like teabags. If you want to know who they really are, you have to put them in hot water. That's when our true selves, our true nature, is revealed. It's easy to be nice when there's no one to be mean to. It's easy to be calm when there's nothing going on. I quote the verse where Jesus talks about tribulations a lot. In fact, I'm going to do it again right now. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Again--it's easy to be of good cheer when things are going well. A bit more difficult to be of good cheer in the midst of trial and tribulation. That's the key though: It's not about US and what we can do in our OWN power. It's about Jesus. He is our peace. And I quoted Romans 5:3 about tribulation working patience because it's important to understand that patience is like a muscle. It grows as you use it. As you exercise it. I'm a pretty patient dude. I'm hard to bother. But that doesn't mean I never lose my cool. And I'm working on that. People always say, "If you ask God for patience He will give you opportunities to be patient." I get that. But, at the same time, in the midst of those opportunities to be patient (which will come at you whether you ask for them or not), God IS our patience. He is our longsuffering. Our very present help in times of trouble. He doesn't just cross His arms and say, "Good luck. Hope you're patient enough to endure this." No. He's right there with us. Arms open wide. Giving us everything we need by giving us everything He has--everything He is. Without God (LOVE) there can be no patience. Because love is the rock that we stand on when things get shaky. "I know I'm going to be ok, because I know my Daddy loves me." That's my blessed assurance that eqiups and empowers me to be able to be patient. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Including getting through what I'm going through. With good cheer. And mercy. And grace. And forgiveness. And love. And patience!

The theme we've kind of been working on lately is that we do not do in order to be. We do because we be. The lie that the serpent hissed into Eve's ear way back in the misty garden of Eden was that man had to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in order to be like God. When the truth is: We were made in His image and likeness. We never had to do anything in order to be like God. We were always like Him. The problem was that it was dark out, and we couldn't see Him clearly. We thought He was a distant, angry, taskmaster of a God just waiting for us to mess up so He could get us. That's why, after eating from the tree of death, Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God. They were naked and ashamed. But man's nakedness has never bothered God. They were naked before they ate from the tree and He didn't care. It wasn't a problem until it was a problem... for us. And then God fixed that problem by clothing us with Lamb skin. With Himself. How awesome that He fixed a problem that didn't bother him, and that He didn't create. We messed up... and God cleaned up our mess for us. Kind of blows the whole "Once I clean up my act I'll get back to church" idea out of the water, eh? And here's where I want to end this Rant series: "That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:17). See, it's not, "Do good works in order to be perfect." Our good works flow out of our (HIS, in us) perfection. We don't do in order to be. We do because we be. What's inside comes out. Or, rather, more accurately, what we believe is inside comes out. What you do flows from what you believe. If you believe you're a smoker, for example, at the end of the day that's who you're going to be. Because that's what you believe you are. It is impossible to be someone you're not. And while you can maybe, possibly, for a little while fake it... at the end of the day you are who you are. So it behooves us to find out who we are. Not to be someone we're not, but to know, and understand, and embrace who we really are. Which is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. That's what it means to be human. That's why Jesus usually referred to Himself as the Son of man. He was fully 100% God... and fully 100% man. Jesus--God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And the love IN our body coming OUT. That's the key. Receiving and RELEASING. Letting God fill us up with Himself. His love. His Spirit. And then filling ourselves up to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Looking in the mirror and seeing Jesus. Seeing ourselves. Our TRUE selves. The perfection of knowing and being known. Knowing who we are and being known for who we are. The true you. The human being that doesn't have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to be something it's not and trying to get something it thinks it hasn't got. We can just be. We can let what's really inside (the love of God) flow out of us by simply knowing and believing that it (HE) is in there. We can let our perfection dictate our good works, instead of trying (and failing) to make it happen the other way around!