It's ALL about LOVE!
The greatest commandment of all times is to Love God with all your heart, body, mind, and spirit. Now just watch and see how all of this is connected...
When you really love someone, you go out of your way to please them. You do little things that may not necessarily be required, just to show how much you care. You do more than just say you love someone, you show them. Well the same applies with our love from God. When we develop a deep, loving relationship with our Creator, we'll begin to do more and sacrifice more just to please him.
One big issue with me is "Standards of Holiness". I began my College and Career Sunday School Class down this trail. I mentioned earlier a guy that was questioning me about my beliefs. Well in a quest to give him the right answers, I began to question myself. Didn't God say that by LOVE people would know we were different. God also said he looked on the heart of a man, not on his outward appearance. So maybe my whole denomination was wrong when it came to outward standards??
It didn't take me too long to begin to dig and search for an answer. I'm the type of person that wants an exact explanation, word for word reason. It's not enough for me to say, "well that's what the rule book says, and you have to do it." I want to know WHY?? Well it all comes back to love. Yes there are Biblical reasons as to why I wear skirts and don't cut my hair. However, I don't just build my faith upon those reasons because some of them are easily refutable as I have recently read. My "standards" come from a love for God that has developed in my heart. There is a good chance that I can get to heaven without doing or not doing all those things. However, God is pleased that I would make myself separate, that I would abide by His word and carry on those standards. It's just something extra I do to please him.
I find it easier to live my Christian life when I look at things this way. Love is something everyone can understand. I don't sit around nervous, wondering if I'm going to have to explain my beliefs to someone new. Now, I can simply say, there are Biblical principals that I base my lifestyle upon, but more importantly I do this to show God that I love him. It is the way I express my love to Him. Everyone expresses love in different ways, and if you don't see my reasoning, it doesn't mean that I'm wrong or you're wrong. It's just my relationship with God.
When I love God like I should, with everything I have, I find it easier to love my neighbor. So by living the first commandment, I can do the second commandment. When I abide by those two rules, I can easily master everything else because I've got the hardest stuff down.
Every single action we take should be done in love, first with a love for God, then with a love for our neighbor. They work hand in hand. Just by being a loving person to everyone, I've witnessed. I may never lay hands on someone, or give them a bible study, or cast demons out of someone (which is all GREAT stuff), but people know that I'm a Christian because they saw love in me. The Bible says in the last days that man would come to judgment day saying "Lord, Lord, I did this in your name, and that in your name." However, God will say depart from me, I never knew you, because those people never had LOVE!
And that my friends concludes my theory of love!
When you really love someone, you go out of your way to please them. You do little things that may not necessarily be required, just to show how much you care. You do more than just say you love someone, you show them. Well the same applies with our love from God. When we develop a deep, loving relationship with our Creator, we'll begin to do more and sacrifice more just to please him.
One big issue with me is "Standards of Holiness". I began my College and Career Sunday School Class down this trail. I mentioned earlier a guy that was questioning me about my beliefs. Well in a quest to give him the right answers, I began to question myself. Didn't God say that by LOVE people would know we were different. God also said he looked on the heart of a man, not on his outward appearance. So maybe my whole denomination was wrong when it came to outward standards??
It didn't take me too long to begin to dig and search for an answer. I'm the type of person that wants an exact explanation, word for word reason. It's not enough for me to say, "well that's what the rule book says, and you have to do it." I want to know WHY?? Well it all comes back to love. Yes there are Biblical reasons as to why I wear skirts and don't cut my hair. However, I don't just build my faith upon those reasons because some of them are easily refutable as I have recently read. My "standards" come from a love for God that has developed in my heart. There is a good chance that I can get to heaven without doing or not doing all those things. However, God is pleased that I would make myself separate, that I would abide by His word and carry on those standards. It's just something extra I do to please him.
I find it easier to live my Christian life when I look at things this way. Love is something everyone can understand. I don't sit around nervous, wondering if I'm going to have to explain my beliefs to someone new. Now, I can simply say, there are Biblical principals that I base my lifestyle upon, but more importantly I do this to show God that I love him. It is the way I express my love to Him. Everyone expresses love in different ways, and if you don't see my reasoning, it doesn't mean that I'm wrong or you're wrong. It's just my relationship with God.
When I love God like I should, with everything I have, I find it easier to love my neighbor. So by living the first commandment, I can do the second commandment. When I abide by those two rules, I can easily master everything else because I've got the hardest stuff down.
Every single action we take should be done in love, first with a love for God, then with a love for our neighbor. They work hand in hand. Just by being a loving person to everyone, I've witnessed. I may never lay hands on someone, or give them a bible study, or cast demons out of someone (which is all GREAT stuff), but people know that I'm a Christian because they saw love in me. The Bible says in the last days that man would come to judgment day saying "Lord, Lord, I did this in your name, and that in your name." However, God will say depart from me, I never knew you, because those people never had LOVE!
And that my friends concludes my theory of love!
Comments
This was very insightful. You should submit it to 90&9. Speaking of which, have you seen the controversial show "The Book of Daniel" (about a preacher and his dysfunctional family)? If so, Kent (the editor) is looking for someone to write a review of it. If you're interested, please email me (just see the email link in my blogger profile). Thanks!