The Light of Love part 5
There are a few things in the Bible that God is concretely described as. God is Spirit. God is light. God is love. God is a consuming fire. These are important because in understanding who God is... we understand who we are. As He is, so are we in this world. So we need to know Him as He is. That's why He reveals Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. But, according to 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT), "Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love." I say that to say this: God is love. Period. Full stop. Every other picture of Him is a picture of love. In the love chapter of the Bible, when Paul is describing love, he is describing God. It is a personality profile of Jesus. So God is a Spirit, right? That Spirit is love. God is a consuming fire. That fire is love. God is light... that light is love! It's not just the light OF love, the light IS love. I'm saying all this because it is important to understand that we don't just HAVE light... we ARE light. Jesus described Himself AND US as the light of the world. The same light. The light that God spoke into existence way back in the beginning when the heaven and earth (the mind and the body... you) were dark and void and without form. Shining your light doesn't mean doing anything extra. It means simply knowing who you are, believing that you are who God says you are, and being who you are. Filling yourself to overflowing with the love that God has already filled you with so that the love inside comes out. Naturally. It's not faking it 'til you make it (though I'm not against that if that's where you are in your maturation process). It's about breathing God's love in and out with every breath you take and every move you make. It's about being who you are by knowing who you are. Letting your light shine because you are in the light as God is in the light. He IS light and there is no darkness in Him at all. Same for you. You ARE light and there is no darkness in you at all! Guys, it's so important to understand your true identity. Because if you don't you will run around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to be someone you're not. And you can't be anyone you're not. You can't be anybody but you. And that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. You were created on purpose, for purpose, and by purpose. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are not an accident. You are exactly who God wanted you to be. He knew He needed a you in the world, so He made you. Embrace who you are. BE who you are. And do it in the light. People are already watching you. Give them something to talk about. Don't do things that you are ashamed of and need to hide. Don't do things that you shouldn't be doing. Just because you CAN do everything doesn't mean you SHOULD. Do things on purpose. Do things that help you work for your goals. Do things because they are in your heart to do them. That's the best (and perhaps only true) motivation for anything. It is the power of God working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. The power of love working in you so that love can work it's way out of you. Living in the light means loving people. That's as simply as I can make it. And if you're loving people you won't be doing anything you need to hide. You'll be doing the right thing. It might not always end up the way you think it should, but it WILL end up the way it's supposed to. Because love never fails. So let your light shine. By knowing and believing that it's there. Knowing and believing that it's love. Knowing and believing that... it's you!