What Shall We Do Then? part 4
We make things so complicated sometimes. And I think it comes from the simple fact that you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. Or, more accurately, what you believe you don't have or do have. Remember, either way Christ's love controls us. Either we know and believe the love of Christ, and do whatever we do in order to share that love... or we don't know and believe that we are unconditionally loved, and do everything we do in order to get that love that we desperately need but don't think we have. Two completely different mindsets. And here's the thing: You can't have it both ways. You can't serve two masters. James 1:8 says, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." If you're going back and forth on this, swinging from branch to branch on the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death), you will never be able to rest. If you think you're going from good to evil and back again, plucking flower petals and saying "God loves me, He loves me not," and just hoping and praying that you end up on "He loves me..." Guys. That's no way to live. That's not living at all. The ONLY way to truly live is to receive and release the love of God. Because living and loving aren't just connected, they are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other and you can't do one without the other. The age-old question, "Why am I here?" really has a simple answer. To be loved and to love. To be known and to know. To experience Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love by letting Jesus live His own life in you, and through you, and as you. To receive and release the gift of God. Which IS the life of love. To receive it by releasing it, and to release it by receiving it. Breathing it in and breathing it out. That's how we live, right? By breathing? By our heart beating--or, really, by God's heart beating with love in our chests. It's all about love. Love is the answer. What shall we do then? Love! Live out of your abundance. If you see someone without a coat, and you have an extra one... it's not rocket science. Don't worry about having things, but make sure things don't have you. If you have a heart for people, your stuff won't hold you back or hold you down. You will understand what it means to be blessed... to be a blessing. You will be able to live out of your abundance. Give what you've got. And, listen, John didn't say, "Give away your coat and freeze to death." Luke 3:11 says, "He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." Live out of your abundance. See a need--and if you can--meet it. But stay in your lane. Don't try to be someone you're not and don't try to do something you can't. You're not expected to do everything for everybody. You can only do what you can do. And once you've given something all you've got, that's either enough... or it's not. And either way, you've done what you can do. So don't beat yourself up for the things you can't do. Learn to say no. While at the same thing doing what you can do. Saying yes when you can. What shall we do then? Love people. Give what you've got. Give who you are. BE who you are!