Live Loved

When we know God and really lean into a relationship with Him, He begins to commission us. And out of love for Him, we will be eager to go where He sends us, to do what He asks of us.
 
This Christian life has to start with a loving relationship with God, otherwise we become hypocrites.

A lot of my childhood I spent reading the Bible and going to church and believing in Jesus because I was supposed to. I was taught it was the right thing to do and I loved doing the right thing. I prided myself on good behavior and doing what I was supposed to do. And I couldn’t understand why some people didn’t believe or obey Jesus the way I did (or at least the way I thought I did. I see now a lot of pride in it.)

I had to move from obeying out of obligation and find that deep loving relationship with Jesus. It’s not about a perfect performance. That’s why the Pharisees had such a hard time with Jesus. It’s about knowing Him and Him knowing you intimately. If the obedience doesn’t come from love, it’s empty and hollow.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Without love we are a clanging cymbal. That verse doesn’t just mean we do things with love for others (although that is part of it). It also means that we can’t do anything meaningful unless the Father’s love is the source of it. We have to be rooted and filled with His love to do the things in the first place!

It’s like when you were a kid and your mom asked you to go help your dad with yard work. If you didn’t want to do it, you grumbled and complained and your dad probably didn’t even want your help anymore because you had a bad attitude. But maybe one day you saw that your dad’s knees were bothering him and he really needed help in the yard. Out of your love for your dad, you willingly offered to help him and you both ended the day feeling loved and fulfilled.
 
Without love, the help offered was useless. Without living in the Father’s love, the things we do day to day are useless. It has to start there. So go out and live loved my friends!