Worthy part 3
Love is not something that can be earned. Because love doesn't keep a record of right and wrong. So its (He's) not weighing your "good" deeds against your "evil" deeds. That was the trouble that Adam got humanity into by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil--he entered us into a performance based, appearance realm where we judged things (specifically ourselves and each other) by what they looked like. We lost the ability to see things for what they really were. We lost the ability to see the bigger picture. To see that all things work together for good. Sometimes what we think is the worst thing that could ever happen is really just setting up the best thing that could ever happen. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can start to climb. Sometimes you have to "lose it all" to realize what you really have. Or what you really need. I find that a lot of the time the stuff we think we need is really just stuff that we want. And when you're chasing wants... it'll never be enough. You get what you want, and then you want something else. Its not satisfying. The true desire of our heart is to be loved. And only love can satisfy that desire. The tragedy is that we are so conditioned to believe that we're "lucky" to get the smallest scrap of "love" (usually a false sort of kindness that is more, "I'll scratch your back as long as you scratch mine") that we settle for so much less than what's available to us. Love is out there. Actually, love is IN there. Its in your heart. Always has been, always will be. All you have to do is let it in... by letting it out. All you have to do is know it and believe it. Receive it and release it. But the only way--literally the ONLY way--to do that is by letting the mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you. USING the mind of Christ to think the thoughts of God. Thoughts of peace and NOT evil. And notice that Jeremiah 29:11 doesn't say "thoughts of good and not evil." Because good and evil are on the same tree. Its not getting rid of evil so you can be good and earn that love. Its getting off that diet of works and labor and onto a totally and completely different tree. The Tree of Life. Which produces the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. Which, again, is the only thing that will truly satisfy the desire of our heart. We, as a species, are completely controlled by love. Either we think we don't have it and we're controlled by the pursuit of it... or we know that we have it and we're controlled by the sharing of it. But, because it (He) has already been given to us, it (He) is not something that can be earned. You don't have to (and cannot) prove your worth through your actions. Now, again, I'm not saying your actions don't matter. Of course they do. I just wrote a whole Rant series about how important effort is. I'm saying... you can't get love by jumping through hoops. That's not how love works. When the Bible talks about wages, it talks about the wages of sin... which is death (not hell, by the way, but DEATH). That's what our "Spiritual work" earns us. No matter how hard we try, we can't earn love. Love is freely given (to all) and must be received. And I think the best way to receive it is by releasing it. Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So if you give it... that means that you believe (on some level) that you have it. That you are worthy of it. That you can share it!