Live and Let Live part 4
Bondage. Slavery. Being stuck in a rut (which we know is just a grave with the ends kicked out). This is where so many people "live." And its not really living at all. And here's the thing about being in bondage... here's the thing about being a slave... misery loves company. We, for the most part, really don't want people to be happy. Especially if we're not happy. If we are slaves we want everyone else to be slaves too. But that's not love. That's the opposite of love. Because the opposite of love is fear. Right? Perfect love doesn't cast out hate. Perfect love casts out fear. We are afraid of missing out on what someone else has. Or we are afraid of giving everything we've got and having nothing left. Or we are afraid of reaching our hand out and having it slapped away. Or (possibly worst of all) we are afraid of getting exactly what we want. Because what would we do then? What would we have to complain about then? Or fight against then? What would we do if we were actually just... happy? Its a scary thought for most people. So we try to bring people down to where we think we are. Where we think they should be. Did you ever notice that people very rarely edify each other? I think its because you can't give what you don't have, and most people don't feel edified. I think its easier for people to drag others down, rather than lifting them up. But that goes against both living AND letting others live. Instead of focusing on what we (think we) don't have, and making sure no one else has it either... we need to know and believe that we DO have what God says we have. And in that way we can SHARE it. We can give it to others. That's how you edify people--you see a need and meet it. You give them what you've got. And that's what we have been equipped and empowered to do. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth, the truth that God is love and He loves you--is our love receptor. He shows us that we are loved. Shows us how we are loved. Shows us that we can love each other. Shows us how to love each other. Shows us how to live. To live is to love and to love is to live. To live is to love. To let others live is to love them. And that doesn't mean dragging them down. It means lifting them up. But it can also mean letting them do what they're going to do. You can't control people. Sorry. You just can't. And if that's your motivation... you need a new motivation. Its not our job to be Spiritual Sheriffs and try to make sure people look like we think they should look. Its not our job to make sure people are acting the way we think they should act. I need to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Make sure my beliefs and my actions line up. Which is to say, make sure that I really believe in what I claim to believe in. Because your actions DO flow from your beliefs. What you truly believe manifests itself in what you do. What's inside--what you believe is inside--comes out. So stop with the slave mentality. And stop trying to get others to be as miserable as you (think you) are. Live and let live. Know and believe that you are loved, and love others with that love! That, by the way, is freedom!