It's Five Minute Friday again. This week's word is "true."
Do you ever share the true story of your life? You know the one . . .
. . . the one where you share your failures and mistakes, alongside the successes and the things you did right.
. . . the one where you're not defined by any one thing, but by the total of what makes you who you are.
. . . the one where you're honest and authentic.
It's probably not the story we want to share all the time. It's not necessarily the story that makes us look good to other people.
But the true story our lives is the one that people can most relate to. It's the one that lets people know we're human and that we struggle with the same things they do.
True . . . that's what it should be when we share the story of our lives with others.
We can tell the true story without sharing things that disrespect others or sharing details people don't need to hear. It might require us to be careful, but the true story of our lives can still be told that way.
Do you ever share the true story of your life?
Friday, September 27, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Seeing Yourself as God Sees You
Since I wrote my last post on what we commonly know as the Greatest Commandment found in Matthew 22:27-29, I've been thinking about something that came up at the end of the post.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves. I finished that post with some thoughts on how if we are to love our neighbours well, we have to learn to love ourselves well too.
I've been thinking about that idea in the days since. It's an interesting concept to think about.
Some people may argue with me that we live in a world where we're told to place too much evidence on ourselves and loving ourselves. And others would argue that we live in a world where self-esteem is destroyed in many people and they don't know to love themselves at all.
I think part of the problem is the language being used. Loving yourself can seem to be a conceited way of living. Maybe a better way of looking at it would be to see it as seeing yourself the way God sees you.
We need to learn to see ourselves as God sees us, because if we don't we'll have a hard time loving others well. There's nothing conceited about learning to see ourselves the way God sees us. That is the way God wants us to live. And out of that flows love for our neighbour, like Jesus talked about in Matthew 22:27-29.
The problem is that we often have a difficult time believing what God says about us, so we don't see ourselves as God sees us. We've allowed other people's opinions of us and our own thoughts about ourselves, to get in the way of us seeing ourselves as God sees us.
Scripture is full of references to how God sees us. Full of references that tell us what God sees when He looks at us.
Those are just a few of the many verses in Scripture that tell us how God sees us.
How are you doing at seeing yourself as God sees you?
Jesus tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves. I finished that post with some thoughts on how if we are to love our neighbours well, we have to learn to love ourselves well too.
I've been thinking about that idea in the days since. It's an interesting concept to think about.
Some people may argue with me that we live in a world where we're told to place too much evidence on ourselves and loving ourselves. And others would argue that we live in a world where self-esteem is destroyed in many people and they don't know to love themselves at all.
I think part of the problem is the language being used. Loving yourself can seem to be a conceited way of living. Maybe a better way of looking at it would be to see it as seeing yourself the way God sees you.
We need to learn to see ourselves as God sees us, because if we don't we'll have a hard time loving others well. There's nothing conceited about learning to see ourselves the way God sees us. That is the way God wants us to live. And out of that flows love for our neighbour, like Jesus talked about in Matthew 22:27-29.
The problem is that we often have a difficult time believing what God says about us, so we don't see ourselves as God sees us. We've allowed other people's opinions of us and our own thoughts about ourselves, to get in the way of us seeing ourselves as God sees us.
Scripture is full of references to how God sees us. Full of references that tell us what God sees when He looks at us.
- You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- You are not condemned (Romans 8:1)
- You are God's workmanship - His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
- You are chosen (1 Peter 2:9)
- You are a child of God (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1)
- You are an overcomer (1 John 4:4)
- You are a friend of God (John 15:15)
- You are forgiven (1 John 1:9)
Those are just a few of the many verses in Scripture that tell us how God sees us.
How are you doing at seeing yourself as God sees you?
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Love God and Love Others
"Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself'." (Matthew22:27-29)
Jesus' response when the Pharisees asked Him which was the greatest commandment in the Law.
We hear them quoted often today. We say them often. They familiar words to us. So familiar we often shorten them up in summary: Love God and love others.
True in those words as well. But do these five words really portray all that Jesus said in His answer? They get the basics down, but maybe not the full extent.
"Love . . ."
One word with a broad range of meaning in our English language. And a word we misuse and abuse in daily life.
In the Greek, the word is agape. The kind of love often spoke of in reference to how God loves us. A sacrificial love. A love that is a choice even when it costs us something.
That's the kind of love Jesus is talking about here. A love we choose.
". . . the Lord your God . . ."
Jesus isn't talking about a distant, impersonal God we're supposed to love. He's talking about a God Who is personal. A God who gets involved in our lives and cares about the details.
". . . with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
Heart . . . Emotions . . . Feelings. We're to love God with all of them.
Soul . . . The deepest part of you. The part that no one else sees, but God sees. Love Him with all of that.
Mind . . . Your thoughts. The things you think about each day. Love God with all of them.
"Love your neighbour . . ."
Jesus doesn't give us a description of specifically who our neighbour is here and I think that's for good reason. When it's not specifically defined, our neighbour could be anyone we come into contact with.
Some people are easy to love. Some people are difficult to love. Some people seem impossible to love and we would rather not even try. But, Jesus doesn't give us an out on any of these people. We're to love them all.
". . . as yourself."
After we love God with all of us, we're supposed to love others. And we're supposed to love them as we love ourselves.
Sometimes we love ourselves well. Sometimes we love ourselves too well. And sometimes we don't love ourselves very well at all. But, if we're supposed to love others as we love ourselves, we have to learn what it looks like to love ourselves.
Jesus' response when the Pharisees asked Him which was the greatest commandment in the Law.
We hear them quoted often today. We say them often. They familiar words to us. So familiar we often shorten them up in summary: Love God and love others.
True in those words as well. But do these five words really portray all that Jesus said in His answer? They get the basics down, but maybe not the full extent.
"Love . . ."
One word with a broad range of meaning in our English language. And a word we misuse and abuse in daily life.
In the Greek, the word is agape. The kind of love often spoke of in reference to how God loves us. A sacrificial love. A love that is a choice even when it costs us something.
That's the kind of love Jesus is talking about here. A love we choose.
". . . the Lord your God . . ."
Jesus isn't talking about a distant, impersonal God we're supposed to love. He's talking about a God Who is personal. A God who gets involved in our lives and cares about the details.
". . . with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
Heart . . . Emotions . . . Feelings. We're to love God with all of them.
Soul . . . The deepest part of you. The part that no one else sees, but God sees. Love Him with all of that.
Mind . . . Your thoughts. The things you think about each day. Love God with all of them.
"Love your neighbour . . ."
Jesus doesn't give us a description of specifically who our neighbour is here and I think that's for good reason. When it's not specifically defined, our neighbour could be anyone we come into contact with.
Some people are easy to love. Some people are difficult to love. Some people seem impossible to love and we would rather not even try. But, Jesus doesn't give us an out on any of these people. We're to love them all.
". . . as yourself."
After we love God with all of us, we're supposed to love others. And we're supposed to love them as we love ourselves.
Sometimes we love ourselves well. Sometimes we love ourselves too well. And sometimes we don't love ourselves very well at all. But, if we're supposed to love others as we love ourselves, we have to learn what it looks like to love ourselves.
So, how are you doing at loving God?
With all your heart?
With all your soul?
With all your mind?
How are you doing a loving your neighbour?
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