Calling All Saints part 4
We are all uniquely suited to do some things, and we are all terrible at other things. Nobody is good at everything, or bad at everything. This is why I can our "calling" is to be loved by God and to love each other with that same love, but why I can also say that we each have a very individual way of leading a life worthy of our calling. If I try to do something that I'm not made to do that's when I get super frustrated and give up. And that's what I see when it comes to trying to get people to fit in to religion. When we put people up under the Law of Moses we set them up for failure. That's literally the definition of "falling from grace." Because grace is the divine influence upon the heart, and it's reflection in the life. Grace is living from the inside-out. The outworking of the indwelling Spirit. Grace is God's unmerited favor. Receiving and releasing the gift of God--which is eternal life, which is knowing the Father in the context of being His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. What I'm saying is, your calling is to be YOU. Not somebody else. You were not called to act like anybody. Not even Jesus. Because if you're acting like Jesus that's all it'll ever be: an act. Your calling is to LIVE. And to live is to love. To love is to live. Love is what makes an abunant life... abundant. But we have to use wisdom when it comes to living--when it comes to loving. Again--there are things I can do, and there are things I can't. If I try to love outside of what I'm capable of it's not going to be good for anybody. And listen, I'm not saying we shouldn't stretch ourselves. Love is limitless. You can't love so hard that you run out of it. How else could we test the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of God's love for us without loving as big and as hard as possible? I'm convinced that we experience love by GIVING love. Because love IS giving. Making others happy is the best way to "feel" happy. Why do you think Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive? You have to receive in order to have something to give. But it doesn't stop with receiving. We are blessed... to be a blessing. We are given... so that we can give. Filled to overflowing so that what's inside can get all over everybody else we come into contact with. Not by running around like chickens with our heads cut off... but simply by being who we are. I'm a writer, so I use my words to love people. I don't try to do things that I know I can't do. Everybody loves (and receives love) in different ways. Again, that's where wisdom comes in. Don't love people the way you wish they loved you. Love people the way THEY need to be loved. Do what you can do, and do it in love. Even faith works by love. Works don't work. Love does. Our calling is to be loved by God and to love each other with that same love. But we have to know ourselves (and each other) in order to do that. We have to embrace ourselves, and each other, in order to fulfill our calling. In order to lead a life worthy of our calling. Guys... I say this all the time but it's still as true as could be... it's all about love!