Comforted part 5
I started this Rant wondering why people are against a good, happy, comforting gospel. The gospel is the good news, right? The good news about Jesus? The ultimate truth of the universe that God is love and He loves you. That's good... and happy... and comforting. What's wrong with that? Why would someone have a problem with that? And all I can really come up with is the old idea that you can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. Those that only want that angry, vindictive God who sends sinners to hell... those that only relate to an angry God... are angry people. People who have been hurt. Hurting people hurt people. Basically, the people who are against the idea of comfort... are those who need it but don't have it. Bitter people. "Nobody comforted me when I needed it!" And that's sad. Tragic. Because when you need it... you REALLY need it. And if you don't get it... of course that would affect you in an extremely negative way. But here's the deal: Those of us who have it really ought to give it. If you know it, throw it. Receive it... and release it. Because whether someone claims that a comforting gospel is nonsense or what... we all want to be comforted. That's something that is true from the very beginning of our lives. Babies clinging to their parents. And, to me, that's what being childlike is all about: Clinging to our heavenly Father. Letting HIM fight our battles for us. Letting HIM carry us when we're too weak to stand. Not trying to follow in His foot steps, but letting God (letting LOVE) make His own foot steps in our feet. It's the flip side of the "No one comforted me, so I'm against the whole idea of it!" coin. You HAVE been comforted. Jesus sent His Spirit as the Comforter to dwell in us even as we dwell in Him. And because we have been comforted... we can comfort others. You can't give what you don't have. But you should give what you do have. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Isaiah 40:1 says it better than I can: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." It's a part of loving people. And that's our ultimate goal in this life, right? To let God love us and to love Him back by loving each other. You can't love someone without comforting them. Because love is comforting. I know there's such a thing as tough love--refusing to enable someone in order to truly help them. I get that. At the same time, sometimes all a person needs is a safe place to go. Somewhere where they can let their guard down. Somewhere they can feel safe. We can be that for people. We can comfort instead of condemning. We can give instead of taking. We can let people be who they are instead of trying to change them. We have been comforted. The Comforter lives inside us. And because of that we can be comforting. We can comfort others. We can give what we've got--which is what they need. We can live a life of love... because we are loved. We can live a good, happy, comfortable (and comforting) life, because of the One who is living His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in us, and through us, and as us!