Schism part 2
I'm going to start this Rant with the bottom line. With finally. "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you" (2 Corinthians 13:11). Lots of talking. Lots of things to say. And then, when we get to the end of it, be perfect. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace. These, to me, are all the same thing. When you get past all of the surface stuff, all of the crap that gets piled up on you by the world... by mistakes... or bad choices... when we can get past all of that stuff we are left with only thing: God. Love. The God of love and peace. With us, and in us, and through us, and as us. Peace is priceless. I'll just say that. And sometimes you have to let go of a lot of stuff that you've been carrying around for a long time to find peace. Its like the picture of a hand holding a rope. The harder you hold on, the more damage you do to yourself. Rope burn. Sometimes its better to just let go. Healthier. If you feel like you're stuck in the middle... pick a side. Pick a side and give that choice everything you have. Don't half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing. If you can pardon my French. If there's a schism, a division, the only way to have peace is to be of one mind. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. You can't get anywhere if you're being pulled in two directions. But on the other hand, even baby steps forward is making progress. If we're all of one mind... there can't be anything BUT peace. And I'm not saying we all need to be robots. Like the same things, say the same things, do the same things. Variety is the spice of life. We don't have to agree about everything. We just need to major on the majors and minor on the minors. Let people be who they are. But don't let people abuse you. Draw boundaries. That's ok. That's healthy. That's appropriate. Turning the other cheek means don't retaliate, not stand there and let people hit you over and over and over again. Love everybody, yes. Of course. But some people you have to love from a distance. Some people aren't for you. So focus on what you CAN do. Focus on those you CAN reach. God puts people in your life for a reason. Usually either a blessin' or a lesson, right? But you need to be focused on the things that are truly important in life. Setting your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Be perfect. That doesn't mean never make any mistakes. Perfection is about maturity. Perfection is about knowing that you are immaculately loved. Knowing that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. And then loving Him back by loving people. Receiving and releasing the love of God. You can't always bring two opposing sides together. Jesus did that on the cross. But its the truth you know that lets you enjoy the freedom you've been given. Not everybody knows. Not everybody can experience that. So you have to take things as they come. Some people aren't ready for what you have to give. And that's ok. If you can't be in fellowship with someone, you can stay away from them. If you're caught in the middle... pick a side. And give it everything you've got!