What About Love?

Love. 

It is an amazing feeling, is it not? 

To be embraced by your mother or father, and know that they love you, not because you have anything to offer them, but they love you because you are from them, part of them, theirs.

The love that God has for me allows me to love myself on the mere fact that God thought I was worth it to let His one and only Son die for me. In my wicked, awful place. If I am worth that much to God, I should feel like I am loved by my self as well. 

The love that God has for me allows me to love others because I am a Christ Follower. I am traveling the journey of my life in Christ's footsteps, and therefore am called to a life that imitates Christ's life. And He loved anyone and everyone. 1 John says, "But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and His love becomes complete in us - perfect love!" 

The love that God has for me allows me to love Him. God is love, and in Him everything is love. He loves me, not because I have done anything to earn that love or deserve it or that I have anything to offer Him in return, but because I am from Him, part of Him, His. 

This is connected to what Bernard of Clairvaux believes in his Four Degrees of Love through the development of my own love for Him, which then extends to the love I have for myself and reaches out to loving my neighbors. Which then, reminds me of His love and makes me love Him even more.

Love - "does not seek its own interests".

What About Obeying Those Commands?

Two of the commands of Jesus that I felt were especially relevant were Matthew 5:37 and Matthew 5:44.

Matthew 5:37 says, "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No' be 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

This verse is incredibly hard for me, because I can be talked into changing my mind about almost anything. And I am sure I am not the only one. It is so easy in this day and age to change your mind. Christ calls us to be sure of our answers. When I was in driving school, my instructor would always get upset with me for doing a double take to the right, before I turned left. He would tell me, to only look once and be sure of my left turn, because when I was looking right, I was not seeing what was happening in the direction of my turn. I just need to answer once and know that it is a final decision.

Matthew 5:44 says, "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

This verse is more relevant than any to me, and speaks to my every day life. I have many people who have hurt me. I do not use the word enemy. Most of our society has forgotten that word. Christ is telling us to LOVE people we do not like. People we do not get a long with. People who have hurt us in the past. People who have turned their backs on us. People who we have cried over. We are commanded to love them. Wow. I do not know about you reader, but I am terrible above terrible at this command. I can not get over my hurt and selfish desires to even pray for those who have truly hurt me and let me down.

In Dallas Williard's book, "The Spirit of the Disciplines", he discusses the purpose of a true disciple - to "go with [Jesus] in an attitude of study, obedience, and imitation." I can not say then, by that definition, that I am a very good disciple. I can not even obey His command to love my enemies or make up my mind. He says the cost of not following Christ - the cost of not obeying His commands - is not obtaining the "abundant life; life to the full" Jesus promises to all of His disciples in John 10:10.

Obedience. That one is Tough. But not taking the abundant life Jesus wants to give me is even more tough.

What About What Christ Commands Of Us?

In Matthew 5, Jesus gives many commands. These are 10 I have selected to highlight.

1. Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

2. Matthew 5:24 - "leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."

3. Matthew 5:25 - "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison."

4. Matthew 5:30 - "if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."

5. Matthew 5:34-35 - "But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King."

6. Matthew 5:37 - "All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

7. Matthew 5:39 - "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also."

8. Matthew 5:41 - "If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles."

9. Matthew 5:44 - "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"

10. Matthew 5:48 - "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

What About Hope Springs Water?

Hope Springs Water is a company that uses 100% of it's profits to building water wells in third world countries such as Nicaragua and Uganda.

Watch this commercial and find out why you should drink Hope Springs Water as well.

You can buy this water at your local Broookshire's Grocery Store. 

What About Making Little Christs?

C.S. Lewis (yes, him again) also notes that "the church exists for nothing else but to draw men (and women, and youth, and children, and college students, and... you get the idea) into Christ, to make them little Christs."

Being involved in First Baptist Church Athens has shown me a wonderful area where they are holding to this idea of "little Christs" developers.

ParentLink Classes.

This unique Sunday School experience gives parents an opportunity to experience an introduction to the lesson the child will learn. Then the children go to small groups and parents of the children go to a small group, ParentLink, where they discuss the lesson in depth and how they can better implement the lesson into their children's weekly schedule.

This ministry is remarkable because it gives a parents a better handle on how to fully live out Psalms 119:11, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

ParentLink helps turn parents into "little Christs" which in turn helps them turn their children into "little Christs". 

What About Giving All To God?

C.S. Lewis speaks to the need of giving all to God.

Sure. 

But this idea is very foreign to me personally. 

I have been raised in a situation where it is very important to take care of yourself, and I, and only I, have the ability to feed, hydrate, and provide for me.

Provide.

It is crazy to be a religion major because that will not get me the big bucks in the end. 

Yet C.S Lewis addresses it perfectly when he says, "we are like eggs... you can not go indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." 

I feel like it is most difficult for me to give my day to day needs to God. 

To totally surrender to the idea that if I am moving in God's will for my life, I will be better than trying to control my future myself, that is most difficult for me.

I do not want to go bad. 

What About This Blog?

So this is THE blog of Brittany Westmoreland.

I will be posting responses to my Ministry Formations Class.

I am incredibly excited about this class. - No really. I am!

So stay tuned to what ever I have to say!

What ever it may be.

Isaiah 12:2