Expression part 5
I started this Rant series talking about Logan and I making funny faces at each other. About what's inside being expressed on the outside. And I think that's a pretty accurate picture of how this "Christian" life works. What's inside--love--comes out naturally. God lives in us, and expresses Himself through us. But then I was thinking... we have lots of different expressions. And I used the example of Jesus weeping when His friend Lazarus died. And that's kind of where I want to end this series. Love is God's expression. God IS love. That's not just what He does, that's who He is. But love comes in lots of shapes and sizes. I was preaching this last week, talking about how I believe there is only ONE fruit of the Spirit--love. And all of those other things Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23 (joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance), those aren't different fruits. Those are just different varieties of the ONE fruit. Sometimes love looks like joy. But joy isn't appropriate for every situation. Ecclesiasties chapter three details a time for may different expressions. And I heard a message once that I absolutely loved about how the time to kill was before the cross and the time to heal was at the cross. How that chapter is simply detailing the two covenants--Old and New. But I can also see that every situation is unique. So while love IS always the answer, you have to be sensitive enough to understand what EXPRESSION of love is needed. When someone dies, gentleness might be the better expression. When someone gets good news, joy will probably hit the spot. And when we understand that love doesn't look like one certain thing--that in Him we live and move and have our being, and in us He lives and moves and has His being--when we understand that Jesus upholds EVERYTHING by His Word (which is love), then we can begin to experience that love in every situation. Then love AS the answer will be our first choice and not our last chance. Then we will be able to understand that Jesus did NOTHING apart from the Father. And we will understand that WE can do nothing apart from Him. We will be able to stop condemning ourselves when we "mess up" or "express something else" because we will be able to see the bigger picture. We will be able to see that ALL THINGS work together for good, to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. That was the difference between Joseph and his brothers. They thought they were expressing anger and jealousy. Joseph knew that it was all part of the plan. Joseph knew--and trusted, and loved--God. So he wasn't freaking out every time the trip hit a bump in the road. He knew he was going to get where God wanted him to go. He knew Daddy had his back. So even when the expression doesn't look like, or feel like, whatever our idea of "holiness" is (again, usually our culture) we can rest assured that God (love) is in us, and God (love) is coming out through us!