Meaning of Life part 5
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are not your own. You belong to God. The Son belongs to the Father. But, as we are all one body--the body of Christ--we also belong to each other. Jesus said there was no greater love that a man could have than to lay down his life for his friends. That's the meaning of life. Giving your life to others. Esteeming others higher than yourself. But to the carnal mind this doesn't make a lick of sense. To the carnal mind it's all about earning your bread by the sweat of your brow. The carnal mind doesn't think it has anything, so (from this posture of lack) it spends all of it's time, talent, and treasure trying to get what it thinks it doesn't have. "More blessed to give than to receive," doesn't compute. And that's why I like to describe Adam as the walking dead. The day he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil... he died. Spiritually. He was alive, but he wasn't LIVING. Because he wasn't giving. He was trying to get. He didn't know God loved him (because He didn't have the Holy Spirit) and because he didn't know it, he couldn't believe it. And because he couldn't believe it (or receive it), he couldn't release it. If life is all about giving (because it's all about loving)... and you can't give what you don't have... then it's vitally important for us to have our focus in the right place. Don't focus on trying to give. If you're trying... you're destined to fail. Because it's not by might, or by power, but by the Spirit of God. Because with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So instead of focusing on giving... focus on receiving. When you know and believe that you are loved... you love naturally out of that love. Then it's a life of rest rather than a life of works and labor. I know it seems counterintuitive, and I know that I've said many times that the way we truly receive is BY releasing... but our focus CAN'T be on what WE are doing. It HAS to be on what Jesus did (both for us and as us). It can't be on how much we love God. It has to be on how much He loves us. Because the way love flows is... it overflows. Look at Luke 6:45, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." I'm not going to touch good men and evil men in THIS Rant, but suffice it to say: What's in your heart comes out. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. God fills us to overflowing and then out of the ABUNDANCE of the heart comes... love. That's what abundant life is. So what's the meaning of life? I've been saying it and I'm going to keep saying. The meaning of life is to be loved by our heavenly Father and to love each other with that love. Receive it and release it. Love God by loving people. Live for others. Love others.