Simplifying The Complicated, part four - Loving Yourself

The premise of this series is that we have over-complicated something our Father designed to be simple. That is the only way to describe the confusion surrounding the subject of self-love. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment he referred to three objects of love : God, our neighbour and ourselves. Look at it again:

“‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’ This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’ Contained within these commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 22:37-40 TPT

Note : love you friend in the same way you love yourself. 

I have written on this subject on many occasions and it never fails to provoke a negative reaction from some readers because they read titles and not substance. I fully agree that our society often fails because of the self-centered attitude of individuals. But Scripture makes it pretty clear that we are to take a supporting role to the leading role of others. We are to see ourselves as serving others because all our needs have already been met. But that does not negate "in the same way you love yourself".

We don't have to complicate this. Self love is a necessity. If we do not look after ourselves we will not be in any position to help others. We were created with certain needs. We need to eat well. We need proper rest. We need good hygiene. We need friends, and we need to be needed by friends. We need forgiveness. We need mercy. We need love. We need a solid relationship with Father, Son and Spirit. Not complicated but important.

Most of us are not very good at this because we take "consider others more important than yourself" to mean "neglect yourself", which it does not. This same scripture says to "consider the needs of others along with your own". We actually are doing wrong when we are not taking care of what Father has given us.

If we were given a car I am sure most of us would follow the maintenance schedule, keep the fuel tank full and wash the thing as often as we could. It is being a good steward of what has been given to us. It is not different with our life. Our heart, mind and body have needs that must be meet to maintain what has been given to us. Then there is the matter of other people.

When we take the time to understand our needs we will also begin to understand the needs of others. We will give ourselves as a friend because we understand the importance of friendship. When we see someone hungry we will want them to have the best food because we understand the need for good food. When we see someone without a home we will want to help because we know the importance of having a secure place to call home. When someone needs forgiveness we will forgive. When someone needs grace we will shower it upon them. But if we neglect these and many more things for ourselves then we will also neglect them in the lives of others.

We complicate it when we try to push this ministry onto the institutionalized Church or we try to get all religious about it. Stop complicating it. Is Father our provider? Does he provide for our spiritual, emotional and physical needs? Of course he does. So he expects us to be ministering at this level as well, understanding our needs so we can understand the needs of others.

Remember the passage concerning the sheep and goats. Jesus said "whatever you have done for the least of these you have done for me" and vice versa "whatever you have not done for the least of these you have not done for me". Simple. Not complicated. This is the reason James wrote:

"Your calling is to fulfill the royal law of love as given to us in this Scripture: “You must love and value your neighbor as you love and value yourself!” For keeping this law is the noble way to live."   James 2:8 TPT

I appreciate that, "the noble way to live". To love yourself enough to look after your needs is the noble way to live. You position yourself to love others by building it on the foundation of you first loving God, then taking care of what he has given you and by taking care of the objects of his love (people).

Can we do this? Of course we can because Jesus said that love will empower us to obey his commandments. It has nothing to do with whether a person is deserving or even what they will do with what we give them. They may throw our friendship away, spit on our gifts and despise our desire to help. They may walk away from our forgiveness and trample over our grace. Then again it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship that may help a person enter the Kingdom of God. Regardless, it will be from a place of authenticity because we love them in the same way we love ourselves. It's beautiful. It's not complicated. It's simple. We just need to do it.

Simplifying The Complicated, part three - Love Your Neighbour

We live in the age of misinformation. That has become clearer for us since the pandemic hit, as half-truths and lies have muddied the waters to the point that people are just shutting down and shutting off. This is the same tactic the enemy uses in trying to get us to shut off the voice of our Father.

It is an old tactic that we first see with Eve as the enemy tried to muddy the waters around Father's instructions. Today he does the same thing to provoke division and distrust. And he doesn't have to do much. He simply whispers an half-truth about someone (half-truths are so much more effective than full lies when people don't check it out) then walks away and watches us create an eco-system from it. One lie will perpetuate more likes until we have this wonderful system feeding on itself.

Father made it simple but we have complicated it. This is the third installment on this subject of simplicity with God and in this I want us to consider the simplicity of our purpose.

A lot of us complicate what Father made to be very simple. We take lots of classes, courses, write assignments, listen to sermons, read books but it comes down to this. I will let James explain it:

"Your calling is to fulfill the royal law of love as given to us in this Scripture: 'You must love and value your neighbour as you love and value yourself!' For keeping this law is the noble way to live." 2:8 TPT

This is exactly what Jesus said is the most important thing in life after loving God. When questioned about what he meant by 'neighbour' Jesus gave the example of the good Samaritan. He purposefully chose a Samaritan sacrificially helping a Jew because these two groups considered themselves theological enemies.

Jesus made love a simple thing in every example he gave us and we complicate it. We muddy the waters.  James said that there is no way that anyone filled with love could praise God and then curse a brother, but guess what we do all the time when we are attacking ministries we do not agree with. We do opposite to what Jesus said and then we cover this by saying we were "called" to the task of tearing down people we measure as wrong. Self-appointed hate-mongers. We love complicating things.

It is simple : We are to love. We build up. We encourage. We support. We give generously. We forgive. We live by grace. We are positive. We are hopeful. We believe God will do it where we can't. We remember our testimony and believe Dad will do the same for everyone. We allow the Spirit to do his thing. We do this by getting our minds out of the sins of others. Scripture tells us:

"So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always." Philippians 4:8 TPT

Paul wrote this in a portion where he was telling two sisters to work out their differences. Where we focus matters. If we focus on the faults and failings we will struggle to see value and be able to love. When we focus on the Kingdom then we will see everyone as the King values them and we will concentrate on the person not their actions. This is not a "nice if you can manage it" but the core of our being as the Child of God.

Part of our problem is not understanding our purpose as James has described it. We see ourselves as Old Testament prophets bent on calling out sin and pronouncing judgement. This muddies the waters, cuts off Father's voice, causes the enemy to dance in delight. Instead we are suppose to proclaim the good news, that the Kingdom of God is at hand and that there is an invitation to enter the King's rest. We are in an age where grace enables us in all things and where the Spirit of God is responsible for conviction.

Our assignment is to carry the Kingdom of God into every situation we encounter and to demonstrate the love of Father for every single person regardless of their actions. It is in relationship with people that we get to demonstrate the value Father has placed on them. It's as simple as that: to love.

Of course it goes a lot deeper than that but this is where we start. In fact, if we do not start at sacrificial love we can't go any deeper. Doors into the hearts of people will not open. We will spend all of our days trying to conform the behaviour of people without ever touching their heart. There is no exception to this purpose. There is no exception in love. We do not get to exclude any person, even our enemies. All of our days are spent learning how to love God, ourselves and others better, higher, deeper, wider. 

The enemy has been muddying the waters, getting us to do opposite to what Father has designed. Muddied waters allow us to believe that attacking differences is a holy action. Muddied waters allow us to take part in the enemies goal to steal, kill and destroy and we do it all in the name of Jesus. Muddied waters got us kicked out of the garden and it prevents us from unifying and growing up into the fullness of Christ.

Perhaps the real problem with loving people is that we have failed to understand the importance of learning to love ourselves. "Love and value your neighbour as you love and value yourself." How can we love others as we love ourselves if we do not know how to love ourselves? That will be our next entry.

Simplifying The Complicated, part two - Love God

In case you have happened to stumble upon this blog, this is the second part of a series concerning the simplicity of our relationship with Father and our service to the King. Father has designed it to be simple but we have complicated it, as we usually do with most things. We find the same division and hatred in the Church that we find in our society and this should not be. In this, the second part, we are considering the simple command to love God.

I believe we are all familiar with the scripture that instructs that the most important thing is to love God. We find it in the ten commandments given to Moses which we see as a law, missing the point entirely.

Yes, Scriptures refer to it as the Law but the Law was a summary of relationships based on honour. At the base of all law you will find relationships. The law forbidding jay walking is addressing the unequal relationship between pedestrian and driver. The driver can easily kill a pedestrian so a system was put in place designating places for crossing roads and the rule that drivers must stop at those places. In turn, these places are the only acceptable place to cross. This honours the pedestrian's need to cross and the drivers need to drive. It protects both.

The law given to Moses is based on relationships of honour. The first few have to do with us honouring Yahweh and the last few are concerning us honouring each other. Honour is only possible when all relationships develop from the foundation of love. So it should not have been any surprise that when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment that he answered, to love God with your entire self, and the second, to love and value your neighbour as yourself. So let's consider the simplicity of the first.

Love only happens in relationship. You can admire someone from a distance. You can be sexually attracted to them without knowing them. But love happens as you know them. Then how can Jesus command us to love our enemy and to love strangers? Because there are all kinds of levels and types of love, which takes more than a blog to explain. But this love that we find in Scripture is referring to the complete giving of self. It is a love that provokes trust, faith. It is uncomplicated. A total surrender.

Without understanding the simplicity of this relationship we will always struggle with obedience. There is a reason Jesus stated that love will empower us to do what he has commanded. We often talk about obedience, the importance, the struggle to surrender. We even develop systems for "getting there" but there is not a system that we could ever develop that will not complicate this simple relationship. Obedience is never a struggle when it is empowered by love. Love is the key and relationship is the key to love.

All that is required for salvation is belief and you can get to belief without love but once you have encountered Jesus, gratitude should provoke us to a passionate love that says "all of me Jesus". This is not the end but the beginning of a journey of discovery. Love is not complicated but the size of it takes a lifetime to grasp. We are always learning and growing. Our heart and mind are under constant transformation by the Spirit. It is not a self-improvement project but an ongoing lesson of surrender.

Salvation requires belief but love requires relationship. This is the key to the simplicity of our life in Jesus. Our focus is on Jesus and our relationship with him. Everything flows from this relationship. We spend all day with him, including him in all our thoughts, ideas and plans. We include him in our conversations. We sing to him and show gratitude to him for everything in our day. It is exciting to have conversation with him and actually hear his voice in the many forms he uses for communication. We don't restrict the relationship to some complicated system of prayer, Bible study and acts of service.

It is as we walk with him throughout our day that his voice becomes louder and his desires clearer. We begin to see the patterns of his love, who he draws us to and what he has us do. We begin to appreciate his heart for people because it reminds us how much he loves us. Our heart is filled with gratitude and our passion grows. Relationship with him, our love for him, pushes out anything that does not honour him. 

It really is simple. Loving Father causes his will, his love, his desire, his plan to be more important than anything else in our life. We gain the perspective that our lives are no longer ours because Jesus has brought us into himself and now he lives Father's will through us. We don't even really think about obedience any more as all we want is what he wants. No complicated system is going to change us like this. So nothing should be more important to us than pursuing this relationship with him so that we love him with our entire being.

Simplifying The Complicated, part one - The Context

The world is a pretty messed up place right now with growing divisions and hatred. Unfortunately it has been my experience that what is happening in society will soon be reflected in the Church. It is suppose to be the opposite with the Church influencing society but in my twenty-eight years in ministry as a pastor I have watched the Church change to reflect our society. So sure enough, we are seeing growing division and even hatred increasing in the Body.

We are complicating what our Father designed to be simple. Sure, we can allow the deep study of theology turn a simple thing into layers of complication but when we get down to what is really important we discover how simple it is. I don't usually find a lot of helpful things in Solomon's Ecclesiastes but there is one phrase he wrote that I try to keep close to me:

God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications. (7:29)

Yes sir, I find that sums us up quite well. So I want to uncomplicate things by taking a few days to consider what is simple and important according to Fathers design. We are going to look at : 1. loving God, 2. loving and valuing ourselves, 3. loving and valuing our neighbour, 3. honouring everyone, 4. loving each other in the same manner Jesus loved his disciples. Along the way we will also touch on considering others more important than ourselves, considering the interests of others along with our own, and loving our enemies.

Before we get into these sub topics we need to consider the context which is really the main topic. We have been called into the ministry of Jesus Christ, our King. His ministry is not one of judgement and condemnation but of reconciliation. Ours is a ministry of reconciliation as Father invites all of humanity (ALL), to leave the path of rebellion and return to a full and healthy relationship with him.

This is where we tend to take something that is so simple and complicate it with a terrible perspective and wrong theology. Our Father has no desire to destroy anyone but we do get to chose our own path. He has paid the price to cover our rebellion, making it possible for us to return to him. The cross should be all the evidence we need that Dad is for us not against us. And the fact is, if he is for us who could be against us because there is no one like him.

We need to examine all of our thinking and attitude in this ministry because we need to assume that we are complicating it. We need to measure the motivation of our words and actions against the fact that while we were the enemy of God Jesus died for us. He did not require us to change before we came to him. If we could have changed we would not have needed him. But we were desperate for him because we could not help ourselves.

Yet too often we require people to clean up their act before we will hang out with them. We require them to change before we will call them friend. We want them to conform to us before they are transformed by the Spirit and this is terrible and dangerous. Too many of us think our job is done when people conform to the church we belong to and so they miss out on the One who transforms. Because they are satisfied with "fitting in" they think they have found Jesus and so stop looking. We have complicated Father's simple design.

Our responsibility is simple, to be witnesses of Jesus. We are to teach everything that Jesus taught but this is done with actions and attitudes that match Jesus' words. It is with power. It is flavoured with hope. It reeks of peace. It overflows with joy. It looks past situations, conditions and circumstances and focuses on people. It recognizes that each person, regardless of status, position or rebellion, is the object of Father's love. He is chasing after them and he has placed us in their lives so that he can. All that matters to him and to us are people.

So over the next few blogs I want to unpack the simplicity of our life in Christ and in this world. I want us to recognize :

"Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness." (2 Peter 1:3)  

You've got it. Everything you need for simple living has already been deposited in you. We let go of systems, methods, false expectations, arm length evangelism and we go after those Father loves by entering their lives as friends, in purity of relationship and desire. Let's do this!