Discipleship part 4
Making disciples by BEING disciples. Teaching others of love by learning of love. Sharing what you have. Not trying to get anything, but simply enjoying what you have. That's what this "Christian life" is all about. That is our EPIC destiny. Our Eternal Purpose In Christ. We were created to be loved, and to love each other with that same love. But here's where it can get a little bit tricky: Everybody gives love in different ways, and everybody receives love in different ways. That's why it's so important to be students of love. Look at Philippians 1:9-10 in the Message Bible, "So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but love well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of." That's my thought for today: Love not only much, but love well. I'm convinced that there's only one reason to do anything, and that reason is love. Love made me do it. But, again, there are different KINDS of love for different situations and different people. That's why even though I'm absolutely convinced we should follow our heart--love never fails, so our heart CAN'T lead us astray--we also need to use our heads and test our feelings. Feelings can change. They come and go. Love isn't a feeling. Love is constant and unchanging. That's why Jesus could say things like, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." That kind of true, real, agape love doesn't really have a whole lot to do with how you FEEL. It has to do with what you HAVE. If you HAVE love, you can give love. To anyone. Regardless of who they are or what they've done or anything like that. When you know what you've got--what you have been filled to overflowing with--then you can share it in every situation. Using your head isn't about, "Do I love this person or not?". It's about, "HOW do I love this person?". It's about understanding that the fruit (singular) of the Spirit is love. But there are so many aspects of love that it is literally the solution to every problem. Sometimes you need patience. Sometimes you need joy. Sometimes you need meekness. Etc. And that's what being a disciple--a STUDENT of love--is all about. Testing the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of God's love for us so that we know and believe that somewhere in there is exactly what we need. We need sincere and intelligent love. Not sentimental gush. Not trying to force something that doesn't fit, but instead finding that connection, that thing that DOES fit, and watching everything flow. We have to learn HOW to love. And we can only learn HOW to love, by learning how we ARE loved. It's like we're always trying to get something we don't have, instead of exploring, and enjoying, what we DO have. And sharing what we do have, by loving one another!