High Esteem part 5
Here's how important what we believe is: "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean" (Romans 14:14). Let me say it another way, "And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition" (Matthew 15:6). Now see, the truth is the truth. Always has been, always will be. But while the truth has set us free and made us free... it's the truth we know and believe (the truth we accept AS truth) that equips and empowers us to BE free. To enjoy our freedom. What I'm trying to say is: What you feed is what will grow. What you magnify in your life is what will manifest in your life. What you esteem--or give prominance to--is what defines your life. Like we saw in our memory verse: God said it was clean. But if you esteem it to be unclean, then to YOU it IS unclean. What you believe is so important. You can even make the commandment of God of none effect in your life by your traditions. God has made the Kingdom available to us... but that doesn't mean He's forcing it on us. It is at hand, right? Within reach. All we have to do is reach out and grab it. Receive it and release it. Know it and believe it. God (who is love) is supremely esteemed, right? The center that holds everything else together. When we truly accept that... everything else flows from there. It starts with love. Ends with love. And love is everything in between. It's all about love. That is what we need to esteem. If we put love in its (HIS) proper place--again, right at the top. Right at the center--everything else works itself out. Because all things work together for good. All things might not feel good, in the moment, but if you look at the big picture, the grand scheme, you can see that even a setback is just a setup for a comeback. You can see that mistakes are just opportunites to learn and grow. You can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any. And you learn more from mistakes than you do from successes. My point today, to wrap up this Rant series and put a nice bow on it, is that we have to see things properly. Get our priorities in order. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. When we esteem people higher than ourselves--putting others first, not thinking they are better than us--we really have a chance to make those bonds and connections and relationships. We really have a chance to love each other. And that's what this life is all about. So don't think less of yourself. Just think of yourself less. Let that still, small voice deep inside you lead you and guide you. Because that voice is the voice of your heavenly Father saying, "I love you, and I can't stop loving you." That voice is saying, "Because I love you, you can love me back by loving others." That voice is esteeming YOU so that you can esteem OTHERS. Receive it and release it. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Let God's love flow into you and out of you with every breath you take and every move you make. Esteem love and you will be esteeming others!