Anyway part 4
You can't fight fire with fire. (Except that by the end of today's Rant I'm going to show that you CAN, but not in the way we traditionally think of it.) You can't give an eye for an eye or everyone ends up blind. If you take what the world gives you, and give it back, you're just feeding the vicious cycle. But if you give what you've got... then you can break the cycle. You can show people a more excellent way, and give THEM something better. Which creates a whole new cycle. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if we fill others up with what we've got... all of a sudden they have something new. Something new to experience, and to share. Something new to give. Which will allow whoever THEY come into contact with to have something new. And so on and so on. Pay it forward, right? But lets talk about this fire thing. We saw already that we are not to resist evil. But we are to overcome evil with good. Don't fight evil with evil (which is basically what we mean when we talk about fighting fire with fire). If someone slaps you... turn the other cheek. Don't let them dictate your actions. Don't give back what they give you. Love them anyway. Let what's inside come out. Look at Romans 12:20, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Kill them with kindness. And these coals of fire we're heaping on their heads... it's not to burn them, not to hurt them (if you're meeting their needs you're obviously not out to hurt them, right?). But these coals of fire are being heaped on their heads in order to melt their hearts! Because, remember, God IS a consuming fire. He consumes everythiing that isn't Himself--isn't love--and feeds on Himself growing bigger and brighter all the time. And all we have to do, in a sense, is fan the flames. Let the fire that's inside us consume US so that it comes out all on it's own. Naturally. Because that is our new nature. The love nature. That's what we've got, and that's who we are. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--leads and guides us into all truth. The truth, whispered in a still, small voice, that God loves us. That our heavenly Father loves us and is well pleased in us. And when that's what we've got--when that's our foundation... when that's what we know and believe--that's when we can love anybody. No matter who they are or what they're up to. No matter if it seems like the more we love the less we are loved. Because guess what: people WILL take advantage of you. If you're willing to give, people are going to take. And if you give a mouse a cookie... he's gonna want a glass of milk. But guess what else: that's ok. We have an unlimited supply. We are connected to the vine and the vine finished the work and produced the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. The Spirit and the bride say come. And they don't say "Come, or else." And they don't say, "First come first served and if we run out too bad for you." There is no end to God's love. He IS the beginning and the end. It starts with love and "ends" with love. And it's all love in between. And when we know and believe that love... we can flow. We can rest. We don't need an ulterior motive because love IS the motive. We can take things in stride instead of riding the emotional roller coaster. We can see a need and meet it. Because we have what they need. We can love them anyway!