Disciples part 1
You hear the term bandied about a lot--disciple. Disciple of Christ. Jesus's disciple. And I think, probably, you wear it as a badge of honor. Internalize it. "I'M a disciple." But what does that really mean? Well, in a nutshell, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:35, NLT). That was Jesus, by the way. The red letters. The man Himself telling us in no uncertain terms what it means to be His disciples. And, in a Word, it is love. Your love for one another. That's what matters. That's what proves who we are to the world. Look at 2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT), which I think is my key verse for this Rant series, "We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love." Those are the things that matter in life. Those are the things that God filled us with when He filled us with Himself. That's not just what God does... that's who God is. And because He lives in us, that's not just what WE do. That's who WE are. Your nature is what you do, at the end of the day. I think in some ways for some limited times, we can hide who we are a little bit. Behavior modification can have some very limited "success" if you're afraid enough of the consequences. But that's not real. That's not lasting. That's not something that anybody can depend on. And, if you're proving yourself... you have to be real. I think, for the most part, people can tell what's real. You can fool people, I'm not saying you can't, but if your goal is to fool people... get a new goal. You can't fool people into thinking your a disciple. Think about how often you've heard of "Christians" being described as hypocrites. When you say one thing and do another for long enough... people catch on. They figure it out. They see you for who you really are. What's the solution then? Love people! Give them what you've got. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. That's the secret of life, friends. It's all about love. It's all about letting the love that is inside--that God put inside--come out. By knowing and believing that it's in there. By receiving it and releasing it. Giving what you've got. Laying your life down for your friends--and understanding that even the people that don't know it yet... are your friends. I'm of the opinion--I believe it was Abraham Lincoln that gets credit for this quote--that the best way to destroy your enemies is to make them your friends. To heap fiery coals on people, not to burn them to death, but to melt their hearts. The fire is God. Always. The fire is love. Always! So instead of trying to burn people to the ground... we need to let God totally consume us. He is a consuming fire. He burns away everything but Himself. Everything but love. So that there is nothing left... but love. So that we can prove ourselves--and prove TO ourselves--that we are who God says we are. So that we can experience and enjoy the gift He has given us, by giving it away. Can I tell you, I almost always put quotation marks around "Christian" because at this point in the world I don't necessarily like it as a term. It has a lot of negative connotations. When asked, I usually tell people, "I'm not religious, man, I just loves me some Jesus." Which, whether they know it or not, means I love THEM. Whatsoever you do unto the least of them, you do unto the King. Loving people is HOW you love God! He's the invisible Spirit, right? But WE are His visible address! Love God. Love people. Love God BY loving people. And in that way, prove that you are His disciple. Prove that you know and believe, receive and release, the Father's love!