Right part 2
The right thing is rarely the easy thing. But it CAN be easy (easier) when you stop trying to do it all on your own. When you let Jesus take the wheel, if I can coin that phrase. And watch this: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). Now, real quick, in my way of thinking we are all the Son(s) of God. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). So this is talking about us BEING who we ARE. Those led by the Spirit will be IDENTIFIED as the Son(s) of God. Because the Spirit only leads us to one place--love. The Spirit only guides and directs us to DO one thing--love! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and He leads us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. The truth that you can love... because you are loved! And love is ALWAYS the right thing to do. Which means its not always the easies thing to do. The people who are hardest to love are the people who need love the most. Because they aren't getting any. Because they're hard to love. Now, as always, I'm NOT saying you should put, or keep, yourself in a bad situation. I'm not saying you should let people abuse you. Turning the other cheek is one thing, but I think walking away can go hand in hand with it. Don't retaliate, but don't just stand there and take it, either. Sometimes you have to love from a distance. And when you understand that love is giving--not getting--you can love people without expecting anything from them. You can let the love inside come out simply by filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. We ARE the Son(s) of God. Letting the Spirit lead us is how we BE who we are. And look at Romans 8:14 in the Message Bible, "God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!" Because rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Rest is loving people from the place of God loving us. Letting HIS love fill us to overflowing. Learning how to love by learning how we are loved. Receiving and releasing that love. Letting it flow through us. When you can let love flow through you, without worrying about who its directed at... that's when its right. Because love has nothing to do with what people do. You can't "deserve" or "earn" love. Love is about who people are. The Son(s) of God loved by our heavenly Father. A father doesn't love his children because of what they do. He loves them because of who they are, and because of who He is. And that's what it means to be right with God--stop trying to earn His love and just know and believe that He loves you! Because, like we saw in the last Rant series, you don't have to keep cleansing yourself. He did that. You don't have to keep "getting" love. He gave you that. Because He wanted you to have it. Because He wanted you to share it.That's the right way to live; from inside out. Letting the love inside COME out by knowing and believing that its in there. By doing the right thing. Even when its hard. Loving people. No matter what.