First part 4
See, it's not about BEING first... it's about putting OTHERS first. That's what the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Love) is all about. Esteeming others higher than yourself. Not thinking less of yourself, but simply thinking of yourself less. It's the difference between being selfish, and being selfless. The difference between being self-centered, and being Christ-centered--which means people-centered. Look at Matthew 25:45 (NLT), "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'" How we treat people is how we treat God... because God lives in people. Think about it like this--you can't get something from nothing. When God created us He brought us out of HImself. Made us an extension of Himself. When He created everything, anything, He had to make it from something. And the only thing to make it from... was Himself. It's all God. It's all love. Now look at Colossians 2:23 (NLT), "Work willingly at whever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." And I really like this verse in the KJV, "And whatsoever ye do, do it hearilty, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Do what you do heartily. Do it to the best of your ability, and because it is in you heart to do it. Do it as unto the Lord. That takes "deserve" out of the equation. That takes judging people by appearance out of the equation. That opens us up to be able to judge righteous judgment, or execute the judgment (and eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life sentence) that was handed down from Father to Son. God's judgment against Jesus was not to kill Him. WE did that. God's judgment was to raise Jesus from the dead. And in the same way we can raise our brothers and sisters from the dead... by helping them. By loving them. By giving them what we've got. Which is what they need. Everybody needs love. We know we have love. We can let what's inside come out, and live from the inside out, by knowing it and believing it. Knowing and believing that God's love is in there. Knowing that we not only have what WE need, but we have what EVERYBODY needs. The trick is building those connections and relationships so that we can know HOW to love people. Because people express love differently, and people receive love differently. When you put someone else first you are loving them in the way THEY need to be loved. Not doing what YOU want, but doing what THEY need. Putting them first. And I'm telling you--the tide raises all ships. If you want to "feel" love... love somebody. If you want to "feel" forgiveness... forgive somebody. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Love is giving. You experience it by giving it away. By sharing it. So don't look at it as, "If I put you first, I lose because I come in last." Look at it as, "If I put you first WE win because, really, at that point neither of us are last." We can walk together. Hand in hand. And, like I always say, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." Things work out better when we work together. Because we're all in this together. There are some things that you can do that I can't. And there are some things that I can do that you can't. But when we work together everything can get done. I can cover your blind spots, and you can cover mine. I can have your back and you can have mine. That's a more excellent way to live. Because if I've got you covered and you've got me covered, then neither one of us has to worry about ourselves. We can look to the needs of others. We can help others. We can love others. And we can still know that, even if no one else does, our heavenly Father has our backs. It's not, "I'll scratch your back SO THAT you scratch mine." It's, "I'll get that itch for you. Because I love you!"