Just People part 5
When we see each other (and ourselves) as we truly are, we recognize two things: 1. There is nothing more important than God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. And 2. We're all just people. We go through the same things. And when we stop putting people on pedestals, or putting people down, we can start to help each other get through the things that we all go through. Galatians 6:2-3 says it like this, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." Knowledge puffs up, right? And pride goes before the fall. So when we think we're something we're not, that's when we get in trouble. I've said this many times: Being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It simply means thinking of yourself less. Being Christ-centered (which means being people-centered) instead of being self-centered. Bearing one another's burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ. The perfect law of liberty. The law of love. One of the best ways to show someone love is by helping them. NOT by judging them according to appearance. NOT by heaping condemnation on them. NOT by kicking them while they're down. But by giving them a hand to help them up. And here's the coolest part: If I'm taking care of you, and you're taking care of me, neither one of us has to worry about taking care of ourselves! Speaking of being humble, Jesus said, "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). If I try to make someone else look small in order to look bigger, all I really look like is a bully. But if I help someone else to look bigger, that's when I what's inside me (love) overflows out of me naturally! And that's when we BOTH rise TOGETHER. In the Old Testament God was speaking to the people of Israel and He promised to come down to where they were and bring them up to where He is. That's what we do to each other when we stop condemning and start helping. When, instead of judging by appearance, we judge righteous judgment. We don't have to try to make people change. We can let people be who they are. And we can love people just as they are. Because they're just people. Trying their best to do what they can, where they're at, with what they've got. Sometimes people stumble around in the dark. It's true. But instead of yelling at them, wouldn't it be better to let the light that we have--the light that we ARE--shine? Wouldn't it be better to SHOW them a more excellent way by SHOWING them the Father (by SHOWING them love!)? People don't respond to condemnation the way we think they ought to. They call us hypocrites, and they run FROM God instead of running TO God. But if we open our arms in a loving embrace--like Jesus did on the cross--and give people a safe place to be, a safe place to learn and grow, then maybe they will run TO Him instead of running FROM Him. Because maybe they'll see Him in us. And then maybe, just maybe, they'll see Him in themselves. And isn't that the point? Not to control what people do, but to show people who they really are! Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. We're just people, that's true. But just people can do just about anything. When we know that we are loved... we can love!