LIVING ON THE EDGE

Over the past five weeks I have been unpacking what the bible has to say about LOVE and how it is LIFES GREATEST AIM. This has been one of those series of talks that God has used in my life to cause some huge changes. The study has helped me realize that I have loved but only to certain level and have not always loved the unlovely.

We all have VDP’s in our lives, Very draining people. They suck the very life out of you and when the day is over, we are drained completely. We all have them but the question is how do we show love to those VDP?

1 Cor. 13:5 gives us some help here. It says, “Love is not rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and love keeps no record of when it has been wronged.” Dang. I hate that verse. This verse along, with a few selected passages God led me to, have been kicking my butt.

God has spoken to me this week about some past relationships that I needed to make right and this has not been easy for me to do (I’m a little prideful in case you haven’t figured that out) but it has been very liberating. When I seek forgiveness it sets me free. Free from bitterness. Free from resentment and hurt. This week has been that for me, a week of being set free and growing and maturing in Christ. I LOVE IT!!!!

Let me encourage you, if you are holding a grudge and you are full of bitterness you are only hurting yourself. That person you are bitter against most likely has no idea and they are living life. And when you see them happy it makes you mad. You are miserable and making others around you miserable.
Here’s what Jesus has to say about that and I pray you will be set free this week like I have been.

Mark 11:25 (Amp) “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop, leave it, and let it go, in order that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop.”

LET IT GO.

All around us are people with low self-esteem and insecurities. Fact is, we all have some sort of insecurity and if we say other wise we are living in the river of denial. Matter of fact the more successful we become in life we tend to become more insecure. This fact is fleshed out everyday in HOLLYWOOD. Studies have shown the younger we were when we first experienced rejection the more serious our insecurities are now. It’s like a curse was cast when someone in our early years told us we were not going to amount to anything. That statement just sucked the life out of us and to some degree still haunts us and we are not able to become everything God intended for us to be because we believe in a lie.

The Apostle Paul was giving some people some straightforward instructions on how to really love people with more than just rhetoric and shallow words. He was telling them “if you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.” 1Cor. 13 (LB)

For LOVE to be life’s greatest aim we need to love with more than just words. We need to back it up with our life.

That’s what Jesus did. He affirmed people. He looked at people not for what they were but for what they could become. He saw their potential. Jesus is a “You can do it! I believe in you. Nothing is impossible for you if you put your faith and trust in me” kind of guy.

Jesus believed in people so much he entrusted the future of HIS church and the world to eleven fishermen. (One burned out) They were normal guys. No HS education. No college degree. They didn’t have Brad Pitt looks. Just plain ordinary guys like us. Jesus said, “I believe in you. You can do this.”

And Jesus is saying that about you today. YOU CAN DO IT. Jesus believes in you when no one else does. He sees and knows what you can become when you put your faith in trust in HIM.

I know we’ve all been hurt and been rejected by peers or parents. But God cares. Just look at the cross. He loves us so much it hurt.

So today make Jesus the most important person in your life and start filling your mind with what he says about you. YOU CAN DO IT.

We can’t really love until we fully understand how much God loves us.

My prayer for you is “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love really is.” Eph 5:18

Most of us I believe, realize that love is important and vital to our relationships and we want it to be our LIFE’S GREATEST AIM but we forget that so many times. We get distracted. We get side tracked by other things in life that seem to be just as important but if we are ever going to be great lovers, to really love God and love people, then we must learn and keep in mind that love is LIFE’S GREATEST AIM and THE BEST USE OF MY LIFE.

Why would I say that? Why is love the best use of my life?

Because it is true that Love proves that I am really part of God’s family. It proves that I am who I say I am. Love is what validates my faith in Christ and makes me legit.

My son, who lives in Denver and is working for the largest hotel in the state, was interviewed by the secret service a few weeks ago because the president was coming to town and to that hotel and they needed to know that my son was who he said he was. So they did a background check on him to validate his identity. I have not heard from him sense. (Just kidding) Once they had identified who he was and that he was clean, they were satisfied and allowed him to remain in close proximity of the president. (He never got to give the prez a piece of his mind but he was close)

The same is true for those of us who call ourselves Christ Followers or “Christians”. The bible tells us that to validate our identity, God looks at our lifestyle. “Do we truly love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength? And do we love our neighbor as ourselves?” Matt. 22:36-39 (LB)

In 1 John 4:8 it says, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

God wants us to become like him not just take us to heaven. He wants us to love the way he loves because God is love. He is our example of what real love looks like and acts like. He proved it by laying His life down for us all. He loved me even in my worst condition. In while I was yet a sinner Christ died for me. The bible says that greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

In 1 John 4:20 it says, “If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen.”

So we can’t say we love God and then hate those who hurt us or gossip about us or lie to our face or cheat on us. We can’t say we love God then treat our spouses like dirt and call them a “slug” or the “ol’ ball and chain” or ignore our kids and call them “rug rats” or just use them as a tax deduction. We can’t say we love God then never darken the door of any church just because we “don’t like those people” and then call them a bunch of hypocrites. That doesn’t compute with God. Love is what proves and validates our faith. Love validates our identity. It proves I am HIS kid.

Who do I say that I am? Who do you say that you are? Do we call ourselves Christians? Or Christ Followers? If we do then we need to stop right now and do a quick background check to see if our faith has been validated. To prove we are who we say we are. “No matter what I say or what I believe or what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” 1 Cor. 13:3 (MSG)

LOVE IS THE BEST USE OF MY LIFE!