The Measure of the Stature part 4
Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That is the meausre of His stature. Love. And when we measure Him... we are really measuring each other. The whole God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body aspect. Because... as He is, so are we in this world. His measure is our measure. His stature is our stature. When God looks at Jesus He sees us. And when God looks at us He sees Jesus. So when we look at ourselves we need to see Jesus. And when we look at each other we need to see Jesus. In fact, we need to stop looking AT things and people (judging by appearance) and we need to start looking INTO things and people (judging righteous judgment). And here's the coolest part--the light inside me is drawn to the light inside you. The deep calls out to the deep. We don't have to force it. Drawing lines in the sand and trying to make people fit into our box--our idea of what we think people (including ourselves) are supposed to be--only ever ends up in frustration and disappointment. People are going to be who they are no matter what you think or feel about it. So the better thing to do (the more excellent way) is to love them regardless. Loving people is how we take THEIR measure. Not expecting them to live up to our idea... and, really, not even tolerating them for being who they are... but embracing people for who they are. People don't have to live up to your expectations. Let me say that again: People don't have to live up to your expectations. God created each and every one of us. Differently. There's nobody who can be exactly who YOU want them to be at every second of every day. People aren't robots that you can program. People are weird. And messy. And mysterious. What is true of them one day might not be true the next. Because we are all learning and growing. We are all evolving, in a sense, if I can say it that way. We are all coming into the maturity of the perfect man. Learning and knowing and understanding who Jesus is, and understanding that we have already been conformed into His image. See, it's not us becoming more like God. It's us understanding that we ARE like Him, and understanding what it means to BE like Him. We don't take the measure of the stature of Jesus in order to see how far short we fall. We take the measure of the stature of Jesus to see where we really are. To see WHO we really are. And then to BE who we really are by letting Jesus be who HE really is in us, and through us, and as us. And, to make it as simple as can, who God is in us, and through us, and as us... is love. In Him is the fulness of the Godhead bodily. All of God--all of love--in a body. Bursting at the seams to get out. Flowing out from the inside. When we know what's inside, that's when it comes out. Naturally. Because what you believe is inside you WILL come out. It has to. It's too big and too powerful not to. So my point for today, for this Rant series, is that once you take your own measure... and you know how much love you are loved with... that's when you can take someone else's measure and love them with all the love that you have!