Flexible part 3
The thing about rules is... rules create rule breakers. Strict parents create sneaky kids. And, as always, I'm not saying you should be ok with any and every thing. I'm simply saying its wiser to train up a child in the way he SHOULD go than to crush his spirit with all the things he's not allowed to do. If you tell someone not to do something, its like they immediately want to do that thing. Whether it was something they were interested in before you forbid it or not. Rebel without a clue, right? That's why religion is so hard to handle for most people. Look at Matthew 12:7 in the Message Bible, "If you had any idea what this Scripture meant--'I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual'--you wouldn't be nitpicking like this." God doesn't want religious robots. He wants a people so full of love that it comes out of us naturally. When Jesus was on the cross He nailed the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses TO the cross because it was contrary to us. Against us. All the Law could do was point out what we were doing wrong without being able to help us do right. The Law demanded perfection, but couldn't produce perfection. We plain, straight, couldn't keep the Law. Because if you've broken part of it, you've broken all of it. And if you've had angry thoughts you've broken part of it. The point of the Law was not for us to keep it. The point of the Law was to show us that we CAN'T keep it. The Law was the school master that brought us to Christ. Because HE could--and did--keep it. He fulfilled the Law. Brought us OUT of that Old Covenant and INTO the New Covenant. Where our sins and transgressions are remembered no more. Where sin is no longer the issue, because it has been taken away. Where the heart has regained its position as the most important thing. We don't need to nitpick. Love keeps no record of right and wrong. He bears all things. He's flexible enough to let people be who they are. He doesn't demand His own way. He doesn't demand that people be someone they're not. He doesn't "send people to hell" because they mess up. He loves the hell OUT of people. Some of the best advice I've ever received regarding ministry sounded like this, "You can't make people DO anything. And you can't make people BELIEVE anything." So what I do is I simply listen to my heavenly Father--that still, small voice inside my heart--and I try to share what He is saying to me. Which, by the way, is love, love, and more love. God only has one Word. Jesus. Love. "Let there be light." So that we can see clearly. See HIM clearly. See LOVE clearly. And so that we can let love light the way. Oftentimes its a long and winding road, but if we're flexible we can help each other get there. At our own pace. I'm ok with people not having the same revelation I have. I'm ok not having the same revelation others have. Because all I can do with right now is share what I have right now. Some plant seeds, some water them, but God gets the harvest. I can't do everything. But I can GIVE everything I've got. I can love people without trying to change them. Without demanding something from them. Because love IS giving; its never about getting. Love can stretch, and move, and meet every need. Because its not strict and rigid. HE is flexible!