Love, whether it is given or received, is experienced through action. Intending to love someone is not the same as loving them. Feeling you should love someone out of guilt or obligation is not love. Neither intent nor compulsion results in love. Only through our actions are we able to demonstrate love to another. Only through the actions of another are we able to feel their love for us. We can mentally and gracefully believe that someone loves us, but unless they act out their love towards us, it simply isn’t real. If we are serious about loving Jesus, it follows that we will express that love through our actions.
commitment
Personal Excellence Begins With Discipleship
You will never fulfill your potential in any area of life unless you first get your relationship with Christ in order. Unless you are striving to be a true follower of Jesus, nothing else you achieve or acquire will ever satisfy that gnawing emptiness inside. You will always feel like there is something more, regardless of your level of success. It is possible to win in every other area of your life, but ultimately lose everything if you aren’t putting Jesus first and living as if He is truly Lord of your life (Mark 8:36). Too often we become preoccupied with daily activities, and God is pushed from our focus. This is not a state in which we can live if we truly love Christ above all else.
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The Promise of a Fresh Start
How will you serve Jesus in the year ahead? In what ways will your life reflect the love and character of God? What new disciplines will you implement to facilitate your spiritual growth? We are a people given to new beginnings and New Year’s resolutions. There is something exciting in being given a clean slate, an opportunity to begin again from scratch. We don’t need the beginning of a New Year for this; we can choose a fresh start at any time. Still, when the New Year does roll around, most begin excitedly thinking and planning for the possibilities the next year might hold. This is a great time to honestly evaluate your walk with Christ and prayerfully consider how you might better serve Him in the year to come.
Suburban Christianity
Part of the fallout from modern Christianity confusing following Christ with pursuing the American dream is the rise of ‘Suburban Christianity’. This is the expression of our faith that is steeped in the illusion of serving others while really hiding behind a veil of safety and selfishness. Having spent the past ten years living in suburbia, I have found myself leaning into this mentality from time to time. We convince ourselves that we are the part of the body that supplies the funds for those working closer to the real problems. I am not disputing there may be some truth in that way of thinking, but at the same time we must be careful to not use that as an excuse to remain sheltered in our safe, comfortable, and predictable worlds.
Live Your Life as Jesus Would Live Your Life
“Jesus teaches you to live your life as He would live your life.” This is a quote from the book, “Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth”, by Hugh Halter. When I read that, I was struck by how at once the statement is so simple, yet the implications are enormous. How would Jesus live my life if He were me? What if, instead of using the miracle of the virgin birth 2,000 years ago, the way God chose to reveal Himself to the world was through my life? How would I live? What would I do? In what ways would my life be different? What if He chose to use your life?
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