Sufficiency part 5
I think this is a good--right--way to end this Rant series: "Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience" (Galatians 6:6 MSG). The whole "releasing" aspect of "receiving and releasing." What you have is important. And knowing what you have is perhaps even more important. But what you DO with what you have is the most important. We are blessed to be a blessing. That's the simpliest way I can put it. And, yes, we can enjoy those blessings WHILE we are blessing others. That's a great fringe benefit. When we share what we have--who we are--with others, we get to experience and enjoy what we have, and who we are. Love is giving. So if you want to feel love... love someone. If you want to feel important... let someone else know that THEY are important. It's not about what you get. It's about what you have. Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. And, of course, because we have everything we need. Because we have God. Because we have each other. Because we have... love. As the Beatles once sang, "Love is all you need." Truer words were never spoken. Love is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. And everything in between. Love is what we rely on. Love is what fills us up, so that we can fill ourselves up to overflowing, and let that love--that God has already filled us up with--come out. Naturally. With every move we make and every breath we take. When you trust in God to be your source (of everything), then you don't have to worry (about anything). When you start to live out of your abundance, that means that you know (and believe) that you HAVE that abundance. And, by the way, LOVE is that abundance. Love is what makes that abundant life... abundant. Love is the difference between life as we generally know it... and the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. I've heard it said like this, "No love... no life. KNOW love... KNOW life!" It is only through the love of God--receiving it and releasing it--that we can experience the life of God. Only by letting Jesus--who is God in the flesh, love in a body... God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body--live HIS life in us, and through us, and as us. Resting. Trusting. Flowing. Not trying to do things ourselves. It takes training in order to grow in this "self"-sufficient maturity. Training for reigning, right? That's when we can enter into a generous common life with those around us. That's when we can give what we've got. Because we know we've got something. Something worth giving. Something worth sharing. When you know what you've got you CAN give what you've got... AND you will WANT to give what you've got. Because it's too good to keep to yourself. Being "self"-sufficient is about knowing that we're all in this together, and that our God has provided all our need. That's where our sufficiency comes from. That's how we get through everything we need to go through. We have what we need. What matters is what we do with what we have!