Resist Not part 2
You don't have to fight. Anything. Ever. Except for the good fight of faith. Which is laying hold of the gift you've already been given. Knowing and believing that you have what you need. That you have what God says He has already given you. Look at Zechariah 9:15 in the Message Bible, "GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies will protect them-- all-out war, The war to end all wars, no holds barred." That's the cross. That happened over 2,000 years ago. The war to end all wars. Which means there are no more wars. Again--the good fight of faith is simply knowing and believing that there are no more wars. That we are who we need to be and that we have what we need to have. We don't have to fight each other in order to try to force people to be what our idea of a "good Christian" is. If "Christian" means "Christ-like" then there really aren't any "good" or "bad" Christians anyway, right? If He became sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him... that means we are the righteousness of God in Christ. Period. No matter what. On our best days... and on our worst days... and on every day in between. Because what you are (WHO YOU ARE) is what you are. What you do flows from what you believe. Behavior modification is not real, or true, or effective. Behavior problems come from belief problems. Right believing produces right actions. Because right believing is faith. And right actions are charity--love in action. If you're loving your neighbor you can't also be fighting your neighbor. Because, think about this: Love does not demand its (HIS) own way. When we are trying to force people into our idea of what and who they should be... we aren't loving them for who they are. And while people say love is blind--I don't think that's true, I think lust is blind. I think when you want someone you look past a lot of... stuff--I believe love sees clearly. Love loves people not in spite of their stuff... but because of it. We need to stop thinking "If you're not a cookie cutter ideal "Christian" then I can't love you." And we need to start embracing people for who they are. We need to start letting people BE who they are. And when you love someone no matter what, when you don't resist them being who they are, that's when they can start to be who they REALLY are. I've heard the phrase, "God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way." I disagree. EITHER He loves you just the way you are OR He needs to change you. It can't be both. What I believe is true is that God loves you just the way you are. Period. Which is why He shows you how you REALLY are by showing you how HE really is. Jesus is our true identity. When God looks at us He sees Jesus, and when God looks at Jesus He sees us. When we look in the mirror we see Jesus and when we look at each we can (and should) see Jesus. So stop resisting. Stop fighting. Stop trying to make square pegs fit into round holes. Let it be. Let go and let God. The Holy Spirit is the only thing that can convict us of our righteousness. And our righteousness is the only thing that can keep us on that straight and narrow path that leads unto life. Because life is love. Righteousness is loving people. That's why we're here and that's who we are!