We Might Be The Problem

 Happy Friday, Friends! 

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! 😊

You and I might be the problem…

Earlier this week I was listening to a June 5, 2016, podcast from Life.Church with Craig Groeschel. The title was The Right Heart, Part 2:  Love, Love, and Then Love Some More and Joyce Meyer was the guest speaker. She brought an incredibly challenging thought…

Let me share a few scriptures with you:

Leviticus 19:18

18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Matthew 19:19

19 honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

Matthew 22:37-39

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]

Mark 12:30-31

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.”

Luke 10:27

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

Romans 13:9

9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b]

Galatians 5:14

14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[a]

James 2:8

8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] you are doing right.

Joyce’s challenging thought is this; perhaps that is the problem, we are loving our neighbors as ourselves. Now hold on, before you think this is blasphemous, let me clarify her excellent point. Are we accepting God’s love, mercy, and grace for ourselves? Or are we living in guilt and shame, constantly beating ourselves up over our perceived failures and lack? Starting to make sense, isn’t it? Perhaps we are loving our neighbors as we are loving ourselves, which isn’t really very loving at all.

The first step all of us would be wise to take, that we need to take, is to accept God’s love, mercy, and grace in our lives. Yes, you have faults, challenges, and you have certainly had failing moments…there is literally not one human being who has ever walked the face of this earth who did not have the same. But Jesus didn’t die on the cross for us to live in guilt and shame, beating ourselves up, constantly striving to be enough, etc. And if you ever think you are not valuable, that your life doesn’t matter, that you are not enough, please remember that God thought enough of you that He sent His one and only Son to die for YOU. (Go ahead, read that sentence again)

A few quotes bouncing around in my mind that I want to respectfully ask you to remember…

Hurting people hurt people.

What is in the well will always come up in the bucket.

You can’t give what you do not have.

Let’s get our own hearts in order first, then we will be able to love our neighbors as ourselves and have the impact and influence that is intended when the scriptures instruct us to do so.

I want to share the lyrics to the song, Thank God for Sunday Morning by Cochren & Co. I strongly to encourage you to google the song and listen to it…it is awesome!

Thank God for Sunday Morning

Cochren & Co.

Neon lights and stained glass windows

Old bar stools and back row pews

I ran to one more than the other

But I couldn't out-run you

Trying to fill up all the empty

Trying to numb the pain inside

Thinking you'd never forgive me

For all those Saturday nights

But thank God for Sunday morning

Thank God for 316

And the words in red that say you bled

And gave your life for me

Thank God for a choir singing

And the voice saying, "Come back home"

Saturday night looked like the end of the story

But thank God for Sunday morning

Now I know that you're no stranger

To the broken hearts like mine

It's what you do, yeah, somehow you

Bring dead things back to life

And it might look like it's as over

As a stone over a grave

But I've seen you move, I'm living proof

You still roll stones away

Thank God for Sunday morning

Thank God for 316

And the words in red that say you bled

And gave your life for me

Thank God for a choir singing

And a voice saying, "Come back home"

Saturday night looked like the end of the story

But thank God for Sunday morning, oh...

Sunlight through the stained glass window

Feels like freedom on my face

Really is a new beginning

It really is amazing grace

Thank God for Sunday morning

Thank God for 316

And the words in red that say you bled

And gave your life for me

Thank God for a choir singing

And a voice saying, "Come back home"

Saturday night looked like the end of the story

Oh

Saturday night looked like the end of the story

Mm-mm

But thank God for Sunday morning

Thank God for Sunday morning

Friends, if you have read any of my Happy Friday’s you know I like to challenge us to rise up, to make a difference, to choose to be an intentional, positive influence in the lives of others. This week I simply want to encourage you to accept the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus Christ. For it is only when we accept the love, mercy, and grace that is afforded us can we then give away the same.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊

Kev