Lines of love

Sometimes we forget.

We forget how we have all fallen from grace. We let what He's done for us slip through our minds.  We allow the world to shape us instead of His holy words of guidance and love...  It is so easy to do when you let your heart wander.

I myself have fallen victim to it.  Looking at the surface of words in the Bible and letting myself off the hook too easy with a broad range of things in my life.

"I'm pretty decent. I NEVER murder, steal, committ adultery....I'm nice to strangers and I sure as heck don't committ adultery...," I say.

On a surface level basis, these things are true...BUT Jesus calls us deeper...much much deeper.

Tonight at a gathering at Axis in South Barrington, a friend and I sat and listened to a sermon on "Grey Areas of the Bible". 

Me: "I bet they're going to cover gay marriage!"
Kristin: "Yea, I bet they will!"

Nope. Double negative on that one.  The speaker gave life to a picture of what God has done for us, drawing lines for us to not only abide by but to live and breathe His love out in our lives, really exploring the heart of it all.

As Christians, it can be easy to write off our motives as good and purely for God....but are they really?

Do you do good to be seen by people on this Earth or for Him? 
Do you do the right thing because you HAVE to or because it is an expression of God's love through you?  Do you take the time to humble yourself before God with every great thing you have achieved, all that you are because He deserves the credit or are you pointing at your reflection? 
Do you hold judgement over people who have done things seen as wrong according to the Bible, not even making the effort to know their story before you JUMP to conclusions? **I'm totally Guilty on this one**
Do you refrain from gossip with friends and then let the malicious words spill over into a conversation with your mom?

At the heart of Christianity, there lies a verse.
"Love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and, with all your mind." -Matthew 22:37

God brought something to light this evening, an insight into this life and it's this... 

We will know which actions are right in His eyes by the love shown at the heart of it all.
We will live His words out by loving others well. Period. End of story.

Wow, really? It's that simple?
Think about it.

This life revolves around relationships.
#1 Your relationship with Jesus
#2 Your relationship with yourself
#3 Your family relationships (spouse, mom, dad, sister etc)
#4 Your friends
#5 Every stranger you care enough to lift to be a #4

Love is found behind every word in the Bible and is the foundation for a life lived to the fullest in Him. 

It may take stepping out.  Separating yourself from the crowd...your friends...your closest family....your boyfriend or girlfriend...maybe even your Christian community or youth group.  Gossip, jealousy, greed, impatience, judgement....it's all there.  Where is your heart in the midst of it all?  Is it with God? 

Mine sure isn't sometimes but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up.

The core of Jesus' character is love. Simple as that. 
Invisible are the lines He draws in our hearts to lead us home.  We obey not to recieve anything but out of Love.  We uphold each other in weakness and bring the lost to You, without pride but a humble heart... 

Pushing each other on to love God fully with everything we have means truly loving people deeply and following the laws written in the deepest core of our hearts.

"This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." -Hebrews 10:16