High Esteem part 4
I think this is what I've been trying to say in this Rant series: "GOD is supremely esteemed. His center holds. Zion brims over wtih all that is just and right" (Isaiah 33:5 MSG). When we put the emphasis where it belongs, everything else falls into place. When God is the center, what's inside can (and will) come out. Naturally. By filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. By focusing on what is really important. Which, of course, is God. And God, of course, is love. Love is the center. Love is what needs to be front and center. Love is what needs to be esteemed. We need to esteem EACH OTHER by loving each other. By putting others first. Which doesn't mean we think other people are better than we are. It simply means we trust our heavenly Father to take care of us, so that we can stop worrying about ourselves and can focus on the needs of others. Humilty isn't thinking less of yourself, it is simply thinking of yourself less. Look at Philippians 2:4, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." And let me say this: That doesn't mean you have to be nosy, or overbearing. You never have to force yourself (you "help") onto someone else. If you offer it to them, make it available to them, then you've done your part. Not everybody is going to pick up what you're laying down. Not everybody will hear what you're saying. Or be ready to hear it right as you're saying it. Sometimes you plant a seed but someone else waters it. Sometimes doing your part doesn't mean fixing someone else's problem. Sometimes it just means listening. Being there for them. Showing them that you care. Showing them that they matter. But you can't do that without God being supremely esteemed. You can't love someone without love. Sounds like a no-brainer, but I think we miss that point so many times. Why is it so important that God first loved us? Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. God had to first give us love in order for us to be able to give it back to Him by giving it to each other. The New Commandment. Love one another as Jesus loves you. Receive and release His love. That's the Divine Order of things. Knowing and believing... receiving and releasing. That's how this life works. We experience what God has given us... by giving it away. By sharing it. And when you love someone--when you esteem them, or give them a place of honor--that's how they know they are important. I think most people have a pretty low self-esteem. We've all been through stuff, or done stuff, that has made us feel bad about ourselves. So when someone does the opposite--makes us feel GOOD about ourselves--that can be kind of shocking. Kind of jarring. That can feel foreign and alien. Hard to believe. But it's the truth that is buried down deep inside of us. The truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The truth that we are perfect. Complete in Him. Immaculately and unconditionally loved by our heavenly Father. He is supremely esteemed. The center of all. And He has esteemed us. We are His favorite. The apple of His eye. His love flows into us, and out of us, so that we can experience it by loving each other. By esteeming each other!