New True part 5
Our new name is Jesus. Our TRUE name is Jesus. And that's not just something for people to call us. That is our authority--He is the King of kings. That is our character--He is the One without sin, the One who took away the sin of the world. That is our nature--not the selfish beast nature, but the love nature. And, as I kind of alluded to the other day in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new," there is complete transformation. Not only are we made free and set free by the truth (that we know) that says, "God is love and He loves you," but we are made new. We can lay aside the weight of the world that we so often carry around on our shoulders. We can stop letting our past define us. Our mistakes are not who we are. Jesus is who we are. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That's what happened when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross; He drew all men into Himself. And He planted Himself in all men. He gave us that golden ticket, that white stone, that is our admission into the Kingdom. Which, to me, is what it means to BE in Christ. Because the truth is the truth whether you know it or not. But if you don't know the truth you can't really enjoy it. If you feel like nobody loves you--even though that is the unbelief that I, personally, define as sin--you won't be able to love anybody. Because you can't give what you don't have. You'll be too busy chasing it. Or trying to earn it. Running around like a chicken with your head cut off looking for love in all the wrong places. But while that may be who you were (or who you thought you were), that's not who you are. You ARE loved. Unconditionally. By the God who IS love. And nothing can separate you from that love. Nothing you've done, and nothing you're going to do. Because, as the old country song says, "Daddy's don't just love their children every now and then. Its a love without end. Amen." And the thing is--when we need it the most is when we need it the most. Which seems like it should make a lot of sense, but doesn't always manifest that way. Because what actually happens is, when someone messes up our first instict is to judge them. To take a step back and make sure none of that nonsense gets on us. When what we should do when someone falls... when someone falls we should reach down and help them up. We should not judge by appearance, but we should judge righteous judgment. We should let people be who they are even as we let ourselves be who we are. We should let Jesus be who HE is, in us, and through us, and as us. We should fill ourselves to overflowing with the love that God has filled us with. Then we can give it away. Then it will come out of us... naturally. Then we can be our new, true selves. We can stop trying to be someone we're not and we can just be who we are. Who we really are. Which, again, is love!