… and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
Summary: Today, we wrap up our discussion of the “command given by our Lord” with a look at our need to let go of what holds us back.
So far:
Part I – “Deep Waters” — Wondering if all the Lord’s “commands” are really the same: “Love each other.” (John 15: 17)
Part II – “Focal Point” — Here we consider the dangers of dividing up Jesus’ commands.
Part III – “The Jesus Filter” — This meditation looks at how we apply the Lord’s command to our life, much like a lens filter on a camera or a pair of sunglasses over our eyes.
In meditating on these three aspects of Jesus’ command to love each other, I see that there is a fourth aspect we need to look at. How well we can love, as Jesus commands, depends on letting go of the things that prevent love. Before we can fully put on the “Jesus Filter” discussed in Part III, we need to remove the worldly filters we already wear.
- How can I love you if I hate you?
- How can I love you if I fear you?
- How can I love you if I envy you?
Each of these conditions; hate, fear, and envy are just examples. There are many “filters” we see the world through. How do we unburden ourselves of these so we can fully love people as God wants us to? The first step is to acknowledge that we may use filters we do not know about.
Have you heard how to boil a frog? It is a funny story that has a lot of truth to it. In short, to boil a frog, you put the frog in a pan of water and turn the heat up slowly. Because the water heats slowly, the frog does not realize that the water is getting warmer. By the time the water boils, it is too late for the frog to jump out.
People are the same way. We look at life from where we are, not where everyone else is. If we live in a warm climate, that is “normal” for us. We expect the next day to be like the one before. If it is freezing cold one day and blazing hot the next, we notice the change.
Some people live with hate and suspicion towards others. If they have lived with it long enough, they think it is normal. Some people live in fear. Everyone they see is a threat. Others live with a burning desire to have what their neighbors have. It may seem normal for these people to feel suspicious of others, or to fear others. Normal, however, is not the same thing as being good or right.
The antidote for all our filters is to look at life through God’s eyes. To see through God’s eyes, we need his Holy Spirit and his Word. There is a lot to think about in God’s book, the Bible. Yet, if we can use God as a reference point and allow his Holy Spirit to guide us, we then can understand the difference between good and bad, right and wrong. Only then can we let go of our burdens (Matthew 11:28) and see others as God commands us.
Application: Ask God to show you those things in your life that “feel” normal but are outside of God’s will.
Food for Thought: What does it feel like to let go of our past life in the world as we embrace our new life in Christ?
What does it feel like to let go of our past life in the world as we embrace our new life in Christ?
Letting go of a past life can be comforting and peaceful, especially when you recognize the destructiveness of the sin in your life. Letting go of a past life can also be a struggle when the past life isn’t so far into the past. The words “let go of my past life” really resonate with me because I have struggled (and I’m sure will struggle) with letting it go. I don’t necessarily mean just falling back into and actively participating in familiar sins. I mean also meeting people I used to run around with and then trying to share my walk with the Lord. People I like as people, who remember me back then, and just want to spend time with me again. I think letting go of the past means resolving it as well. I like though that our transformation serves as a witness for Christ. I like what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Chris,
I appreciate your insights on this issue. You sharing your experiences with learning to follow Jesus has been an encouragement to me. Thank you!
I appreciate Chris’s insights too.
What it feels like could be deceiving. Anytime we live by how we feel in a moment could lead us down a difficult path. I know people who were baptized as new believers who felt close to God on a deep level, but after the exhilaration of the moment dissipated they became disillusioned. I know people who didn’t feel much change and were disappointed. Feelings do not lead us, truth does. Truth should lead, actions should follow, and feelings come third. That way we can avoid being double minded as James warns in chapter one of his book.
But in general, I believe it feels liberating to be released from the past life and embrace Christ. In fact, hopefully we will feel like a new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17) and a masterpiece in the making (Ephesians 2: 8 – 10).
Rich,
I feel like your comment is really appropriate.
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist! 🙂 )
Your point is one that we can all learn from. It is easy to confuse leading indicators with trailing indicators. A compass is a leading indicator. It helps you plot your course. An odometer is a trailing indicator. It tells you how many miles you have gone.
Feelings are a trailing indicator. They are the result of something else happening. Someone once told me that feelings are the caboose on the train of life. I liked that illustration.
Thank you!
December 7, 2021, 2 Peter 3:2 Part IV, What does it feel like to let go of our past life in the world as we embrace our new life in Christ?
It seems to me guilt is a word describeing a state of being verses a frame of mind. We may feel guilty, but we all ARE either guilty on innocent before God.
The day I accepted Jesus as my Savior I actually felt lighter, unconfined, unrestrained and filled with thoughts of sharing what I had with others, and I began doing with my family. I was called to separate myself from all those I had called friends and found I preferred quiet solitude and bible studies over the company of others. I found a Good Bible based church and was soon put to work by God.
Christ Himself had taken my sins and I had begun living my life sharing His yoke.
1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 11:27-30
As believers we come to learn, guilt and burdens come from Satan as he seeks to incapacitate us while Conviction and Grace come from God as The Holy Spirit reveals sins and always leads us to the path of redemption.
Ron,
Thank you! The feelings are real. “Lightness” is a wonderful description of what it feels like to be unburdened by sin.
Letting go of a past life can be hard. All the things you use to find joy in are now sin. Going from caring about only yourself to caring for everyone you know. Being a fearsome force to being a servant. Always being first and number one to being last. Being envied by many to being mocked by so many. Having Friends and family proud of you to being a stepping stool for them. Having expensive things and eating at the finest restaurants to sitting next to sitting with a homeless person today and giving them a small care package of food and things they needed including “My daily bread”.
Letting go of my past life can hurt and bring me to tears. Knowing He is in charge and that He loves me helps, but it still doesn’t make it instant or simple.
X –
Thank you for joining in and sharing your thoughts here. Your words cut to the heart of the matter. Sometimes it feels lonely. Sometimes choices are difficult. At times, it hurts to the point of tears.
Why would anyone endure this kind of pain?
Your words have triggered a million thoughts, but the one that is foremost in my mind is Jesus, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night he was betrayed.
Why would anyone do this?
The logic behind the answers to these questions is laid out in the Bible: sin, separation, sacrifice, redemption; spirit versus flesh; spiritual joy rather than abandonment to the desires of the body.
The answer, simply put, is “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
I will continue to try because that’s what Jesus would do. But it still doesn’t make it any easier. Somedays I’m walking with our Lord, sometimes He has to carry me, every once in a while I’m thankful that He drags me.
Amen!