Christian Living
I would like to share a special message with you today. Before I get to the heart of my story I want you to think about something. Imagine that you were on a hill far away, and that in front of you were three crosses. The one on the left had a thief, the one on the right was a murderer, and in the middle his garments tattered, his face and body torn beyond recognition was the Savior. How would you act? Would you act like the Pharisees who ordered His crucifixion? Would you act like the legions of Roman soldiers who took great pride beating, mocking,and spitting at Him? Would you act like the centaurian who humbled himself when he saw the magnitude of God's love? He had been washed afresh with water from the Holy Spirit. Finally would you act like the disciples, some of which did not believe Him until the ressurection and ascension?
Too many people even those who claim to be Christians forget the Message of that Cool Friday on Calvary, that the Son of Man would lay down His life so that we could be redeemed. Our pentance paid, our debt removed, He gave His life that fateful morning while He stood dying on that cross. He bore the sin of man and died for us. If someone, perhaps a friend told you that they were willing to give their life to free you from all your pain and suffering, would you let them? That is what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He died so we could live. Wow!!! What an amazing concept.
Love: be it brotherly or sisterly love, or parental or love between two spouses, cannot even compare to the universal (Agape) love that God has for us. It is written in John 3:16, one of the most well known yet powerful passages of scripture "For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)
Think about it. God loves us unconditionally. In God's eyes there is no sin because he sacrificed Himself that day. Humans go through life trying to gain the approval of others, they do it because they fear rejection. What they fail to realize is that they already gained approval from an even greater source Jesus Christ. Jesus is alive and well and dwells within us. God's greatest gift is there for the taking, his very spirit, is ours if we want it.
Part II- God loves Unconditionally
An animal (for example) will learn to love unconditionally and show unwavering loyalty. I will share an example to illustrate my point. I grew up with dogs, most recently Dalmatians, not the smartest breed, but they were there for my greatest victories, and my most crushing defeats.
They were there through broken marriages and new beginnings. They were unflappable in their loyalty. Why is it so easy for a furry creature with four paws and a wet snout, to show us what the true meaning of unconditional love really is? When we get married as husbands and wives our vows biblically state that we must love each other in sickness and in health. God gave us the blueprint for unconditional love. I just separated from my wife; my second. My first wife has simce re-married and has found her love. I lost years because I could not bring myself to love me without which It would be impossible to love them the way they needed me to. Agape loving means loving universally and without condition. I wasn't loving without condition, I was loving selfishly and it caused a great deal of pain and unhappiness in my life. To love the way God Loves, to stop making excuses like "yeah but" or " I'll do it when it is convenient for me God." is selfish. God didn't hesitate. Jesus didn't say " I don't feel like doing this right now" if He did Gods master plan would have been altered. Why? Because Jesus knew He had to die to show how much He loved us. If Gods love for us was fufilled at the cross why does man find it so easy to put conditions on love, to be unable to forgive when it hurts? I have had experiences in my life where I found it hard to forgive. I had angry, vengeful thoughts. That is when I found myself turning my back on God, little did i know that was when He would love me the most. Now this may sound elementary, but it is the thing that we overlook. God bore our sickness and our iniquities so that we could live. God loves us even when we are not worthy of it, i'll say that again God will love us even though we are not worthy. Imagine if human relationships worked the same way, it would be an amazing feat. I would like to share a final passage of scripture 1 Corinthians 13: 1-5, 8, 13. These scriptures share the message of what love truly as it is written "Love is patient, Love is kind, it is not prideful, it does not boast, Is faithful, It is longsuffering, yet strong in it's promise." That's the greatest gift from Jesus Christ and the reason that we need to look to the Cross.
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First off, speaking writer to writer (of course) is that use of the spell checker is always beneficial. Secondly, for the sake of your reader(s), I would suggest more space between thoughts; although the theme is continuous, it helps "them" to "walk with you" through your article when you make it easier to read. Finally, I saw some hints of a writer here, but I thought you held back really sharing your heart; either that or you may have been pressed for time while writing this. Try reading this out loud to a friend/spouse before you publish it; allow them the liberty to tell you what they "heard" and see if that is the message you wanted to convey. If no one is around for you to read to, read it out loud to yourself as if you were reading it for the first time and see if there is any appeal to you personally. Keep writing!
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