Co-Dependent part 1
This might seem like it flies in the face of what I just Ranted, about being self-sufficient, but it really doesn't. Because, as we saw, God is our sufficiency. He is the reason that we can do anything at all. It is the power of God in us that EMPOWERS us both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. The only reason it's about us at all is because He lives in us, and through us, and as us. But what I want to focus on for the next few days is the truth that we don't "just" do things for God. Like... He's not a taskmaster who tells us what to do and then we better do it. Or else. That's not the Kingdom. That's the world. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:9, "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." In the Message Bible, "What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God's house." We are the field, and we are working the field. Because HE is the Gardener. Remember when Jesus rose from the dead and they asked Him that? Are you the gardener? Well, we are the garden. And we work in the garden. Because HE is working in us. And through us. And as us. We are working together. Labouring together. "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1). Workers together with Him. Not working FOR Him. Working WITH Him. That's the key. That's how it works. Because if I try to do it on my own--even if I have the best of intentions and I'm trying to do it for God--I won't be able to get it done. Not on my own. Not by myself. When I find my sufficiency in the Lord that doesn't mean He just winds me up like a wind up toy and let's me loose. It means that I'm not even really the one doing it. HE is doing it in me, and through me, and as me. I can tell you, the times I've loved people the most, when I've looked back on it I was like "That wasn't me, man. That was all God." Because it's greater than my idea of me. And I say "my idea" because really it IS me. It just doesn't seem like "I'M" capable of that kind of stuff. And it's only through God--through love--that I AM capable of that stuff. It's really the difference between doing things "for" and doing things "with." And I can tell you right now, I've worked with kids for most of my life. They would much rather do things WITH you than for you. Things work out better when we work together, right? In the same way that we cooperate with each other, we can--and should--cooperate with God. Not trying to do things "for" Him all the time, but doing things WITH Him. Letting love guide the way. Letting what's inside come out. Living a lifestyle where we are dependent on God. Letting Him be involved in EVERYTHING. Not just before meals and at church time. But all of the time. Living a life that stems from love and is all about love. Doing everything we do heartily--to the best of our ability and because it's in our hearts to do it. Getting God involved in everything. And being involved in everything that God is involved in. (Which is love.) Co-laboring with Him. Depending on Him. Letting the love that's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there!