Heartily part 3
I said I wanted to key in on three different aspects of Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." So far we looked at the "heartily" part--doing everything you do because it's in your heart to do it. That's the origin of every breath we take and every move we make--and we looked at the "TO the Lord" part--not doing things FOR Him, but doing things TO Him by doing things to each other. Because we are all different parts of His body--so today we will look at the third part, "not unto men." And here's what I want to say about that: When you put expectations on people you are setting YOURSELF up for failure. Because people are going to do what they're going to do regardless of what you do. If you are scratching someone's back SO THAT they will scratch yours... chances are you're in for an itchy day. Because people don't respond the way you want them to, just because you want them to. I think that's where we get lost sometimes with the so-called "Golden Rule." You know, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). I want to point out two things though: 1. We are not under the Law. We are under grace. And 2. It seems like most people use this to try to GET people to do unto them what they want. "I want them to be nice to me, so I'll be nice to them." But I don't think that's what Jesus was saying. I think He wanted us to deal with people in a different way then, "what they deserve." Treat people how you would want to be treated. But don't expect anything from them. Don't get upset when they don't treat you the same way. If the origin of your action is to get something... it's not love. Because love is never about getting. Love IS giving. If the origin of your action is to get something from someone then the origin is not the heart. And if your action is aimed AT someone hoping for something FROM that someone then it's not TO the Lord. It's to YOURSELF. Selfish. Self-centered. Which is the opposite of Christ-centered, or people-centered. Do things TO people... FOR people. Don't say, "I want you to do this to me, so I'm going to do it to you in the hopes that you'll reciprocate." Again, that's not love. And that's an excellent way to get disappointed. Not because of what the person does or doesn't do, but because of what you WANTED them to do or not do. If you want something from someone, that gives them a lot of power over you. And God doesn't want you to be in bondage to anyone or anything. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We don't give in the hopes of getting. We give because we have been given. Remember the ultimate truth of the universe? The Father loveth the Son (us) and has given all things into His (our) hands. We already have everything we will ever need. So we don't have to try to get anything from anyone. We can give freely out of the abundance that we've been given. Out of the abundance of our hearts. As to the One who gave it to us in the first place. Receiving it and releasing it. Knowing it and believing it. Sharing it with anyone and everyone who comes into our path no matter who they are. Not because we need something, or want something, but because we HAVE something. We can love without expectation because it comes from the heart. Because God first loved us. He filled us up, and we simply fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with!