The Way part 2
Love leads the way. Because love IS the way. And the truth. And the life. But we'll get there. The Word of God (which is Jesus, which is love) is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Another way of saying: Follow your heart. If your heart doesn't condemn you, you can trust that you're right where you need to be. You can trust your gut. If something feels... wrong, or bad, or even just a little off... listen to that feeling. God gave us instincts. We ought to use them. And while it can be argued that self-preservation is an instinct that we should not ignore... I'm here to tell you that there's a more excellent Way. (See what I did there?) And, if you read the chapter following 1 Corinthians 12:31, "But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way," you'll see exactly what that more excellent way is. Its 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Also known as the love chapter. The big long list of what love is and isn't. The personality profile of Jesus. Which is simply a mirror in which we can see who we really are. Because Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. Who we are in Christ is who Christ is in us. Who we are in love is who love is in us. And we seem to think the idea of this "straight and narrow way" that leads to life is about us following a list of do's and don't's in order to get somewhere. When really the Way that Jesus is, is the never-ending eternal life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. Learning how to love as we learn how we are loved. By letting God love us. Not by trying (and failing) to earn something that can't be earned... but by receiving the gift we've already been given. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Releasing it by receiving it. But pastor... what about when I mess up? I'm glad you asked. Look at Isaiah 30:21, "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." I love this memory verse. I really do. Partly because it says "when" you turn to the left or right. Not "if." When. Because we DO mess up. People make mistakes. All of the time. Every day. But that doesn't disqualify us. Listen to me: Jesus became sin for us so that we could be the righteousness of Christ in Him. That doesn't have anything to do with our actions. When we mess up we don't "fall from grace." Falling from grace is putting yourself back under a law that was never given to you in the first place and trying to earn your bread with the sweat of your brow instead of just receiving it from your loving heavenly Father. So WHEN we mess up, there's a voice behind us. A voice that has always and will always speak the same Word. The Word that gets us back on track. Not, "You messed up." Not condemnation. The Word, as always, is love. And love picks us up, dusts us off, and equips and empowers us to keep going. One more time for the cheap seats: Love doesn't just light the way, love IS the way. The way to life. And by that I mean to way to live. Living is loving. Loving is living. You can't have one without the other or do one without the other. So when you mess up, you're still the righteousness of God in Christ. Daddy still loves you. Recalibrate and get back on with living. With loving. With following your heart wherever He leads!