Zondervan Blog

What Do You Mean, Love My Neighbor "as Myself"? [Excerpt]

 

What do you do with those two little words at the end of Christ's Greatest Commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself"?

Can you confidently say, "I love myself"?

Joel N. Clark suggests that learning to truly love yourself may unleash your full strength for loving your neighbor.

This is an excerpt from what I call Joel's "Christian adventure memoir," Awake: Discover the Power of YOUR Story (The Book You Can Watch). -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

The Least-known part of the Great Commandment

Joel N. Clark

I was visiting a church recently and found myself listening to a sermon on Jesus' greatest commandment. The pastor read a verse I think I've heard more than any other verse: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor." He quoted the verse at least ten times throughout his message.

Something was annoying me, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I picked up my Bible, found the verse, and read it. I was right. The actual verse reads,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The pastor is a great guy and he was preaching a good sermon. But it was as if those two little words, "as yourself," got in the way of what he was trying to say. They were unimportant.

 

[The Greatest Commandment] is like the CliffsNotes for life.

The verse is found in Matthew 22, and this entire section is amazing... The religious leaders asked Jesus to tell them which was the most important... Jesus broke down a thousand plus years of law into these three statements. I think this is pretty huge. It's like the CliffsNotes for life...

 

I have only ever heard one sermon about the "as yourself" portion of this Scripture... The pastor said that loving myself had something to do with eating right, going to the gym, and generally looking after myself. It meant that I should stand in front of a mirror and talk to myself, affirming those things I like about me. Even as a child I remember thinking that this was a very silly message.

 

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If I understand language at all, "as yourself" is put on an equal level with "loving your neighbor," just one step under "loving God." If this is true, then it is one of the three most important things we could ever do with our lives. Yet I understand why it's not talked about. Pride is something that nobody needs to learn. We don't need to be taught to think highly of ourselves; it is humility that's the hard lesson. I'm sure this is why we spend most of our time learning how to love God and love others.

 

If anything, it would be easy to look at the world and say we all love ourselves too much. With much of the world obsessed with making more money and buying the newest "toys," it would make sense to say we need to learn to teach, teach, teach people how to live outside themselves and spend time loving their neighbors. But excess and pride have nothing to do with love...

 

I think the reason for much of the excess and egotism in the world is precisely that we haven't taken the time to learn how to love ourselves.

I think the reason for much of the excess and egotism in the world is precisely that we haven't taken the time to learn how to love ourselves. It is in loving ourselves that we learn humility. It is in loving ourselves that we begin to understand that excess isn't the answer. And most important, it is in loving ourselves that we are able to fully love others.

 

I no longer think that breaking down Jesus' second greatest commandment into healthy eating, exercise, and positive self-esteem is what Jesus was talking about. Although he doesn't spell it out for us precisely, I think that when Jesus told us to love ourselves, he was commanding us to live fully awake...

 

Loving God + Loving Neighbor as Yourself = Living Fully Awake

I believe one of the key ways God shows his love to us is through the opportunities he gives us to awaken our hearts. Each time I step out in faith and embrace life to its fullest, I awaken to a deeper intimacy in my relationship with Jesus. I believe the way we most fully experience God's love is when we make the choice to love ourselves enough to pursue what he has placed in front of us.

The Father's Kindness (Let it Flow - Excerpt)

 

What words come to mind when you hear "heavenly Father"? How about these:  compassion, patience, mercy, love, kindness?

With Father's Day near (and because the reminder is good anyway), here's an excerpt on the kindness of the heavenly Father - and how we can do our part to spread it around. [Excerpt from NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible: Voices from the Past and Present.] -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

The Kindness of the Father [by S. J. Hill]

If we recognize that God's heart is filled with passion for us even in our weakness, we will be catapulted into personal wholeness and spiritual maturity.

 

When my two sons left home and ventured out on their own, I realized even more how much I loved them. I would think about them all the time. I would call them on the phone just to hear their voices. I would picture in my mind what they looked like. More than once I heard the Lord speak so gently to me, "If you feel this way about your sons, how do you think I feel about you?"

 

I was often reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:9–11: "[Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!]"

 

Today as I was thinking about my sons and reflecting on those experiences, I was so overcome by the love of the Father that I broke down and wept. I realized again that when we, as His children, catch a glimpse of the beauty of His heart, it will ignite such deep passions within us that we will gladly abandon ourselves to Him.

 

A Living Expression [by Mother Teresa, AD 1910 – 1997]

Be the living expression of God's kindness:
   kindness in your face,
   kindness in your eyes,
   kindness in your smile,
   kindness in your warm greeting.

 

Learn More

Learn more about the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible

 

A Friendly Dare: Ask someone you trust, "What expressions do you often see from me?" Is your kindness visible? Or is something else in your heart spilling out, such as fear, anxiety, or impatience?

Further Reading

Is Christ Delightful? via the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible
A Heavenly Party via the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible
Flourishing in Action via John Ortberg

 

(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

 

Announcing the Beginner’s Bible Storybook App for iPad (Watch the Video)

 

We're excited to announce that the best-selling children's Bible of all time, The Beginner's Bible, is coming soon for iPad as a storybook app!

The Beginner's Bible App will be free for all to download. It will include 6 Bible stories, coloring pages and a game.

Get your first look at the app when you watch the video, then sign up to be notified as soon as it's available!

 

We are so excited about the app's upcoming release!

A child's first Bible is so important. It can set a child on a course of lifelong Bible exploration. The Beginner's Bible is the first print Bible that many children receive in their life – and for good reason. The book is a vibrant, engaging introduction to the characters and stories in God's Word.

We set out to create an app that captures the appeal of the book. From the app you can expect:

• Each illustration will be interactive. For example, in the story of Noah's Ark, kids will be able to push the elephants onto the ark, and set the ark rocking on the water.
• The app includes fun activities, such as an interactive game and coloring pages.
• It's easy to use. We designed the app so young children can use it easily on their own or along with their parents.
• Experience Bible stories with your kids. While kids can listen to the stories through the app's built-in audio (complete with sound effects), parents can turn off the audio and read it aloud with their children.

Parents, if you want your preschooler to begin learning about the Bible, introduce them to this app and you'll have an eager audience.

You'll see what I mean when you watch the Beginner's Bible App video.

 

More Bible stories to come

The free app will contain one complimentary Story Pack: 6 Bible stories, coloring pages, and a game.

After the free app's release, we will make available 14 more Story Pack over the next couple of months. Each Story Pack will include 6 stories, plus coloring pages and games, and will be available for $1.99. This way you can collect loads of fun activities, plus all of the Bible stories from The Beginner's Bible!

Can't wait to download the free app? Me neither. Sign up to be notified as soon as it's available and start your preschooler on a journey of faith!

-Helen Schmitt, Zonderkidz

 

This post does not represent the views of Zondervan, its partners or representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared for information purposes only. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.

 

The Keys to Overcoming Fear [Excerpt]

 

Do you feel overwhelmed by fear? We may learn something from the experience of David, who was the target of King Saul's murderous wrath. Read this excerpt from Craig Groeschel's Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World. -Adam Forrest, Zondervan   

 

Craig Groeschel

It's easy to look at [David's] situation and think, "Wow... It must've been really hard for David to have [King Saul] put a death warrant on him." But if we put ourselves in David's sandals for a moment, it becomes downright horrific.

 

For me, it's like the president of the United States telling the CIA, the FBI, and the entire military, "Go get me that crazy Christian guy, Craig Groeschel. I want his sorry carcass, dead or alive." ... Wherever you live, imagine that the most powerful leader in your nation issued that command about you. Imagine that every force in the country is out scouring the countryside for you, interrogating your friends and your family, hot on your trail. You can't go to any public places. You're always looking over your shoulder.

This nightmare was the reality of David's life. No matter where he went, he couldn't escape his knowledge that the most powerful man in Israel wanted him dead. In Psalm 56:1–4, we get a glimpse not only into his ordeal but into how he faced it: "My enemies are in hot pursuit ... My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise — in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" (emphasis mine).

 

David clearly was overwhelmed and perhaps even terrified. But he just called it like it was, being honest with God... You can do the same thing David did. It's okay to admit that you're afraid. Name your fears. Just say, "Here's what's happening, God. Here's what I'm afraid of":

"I'm afraid my spouse might be having an affair."
"I'm afraid one of my kids might get a terminal disease."
"I'm afraid my best friend might betray me."
"I'm afraid my business might go under next year."

 

Say it over and over... 'I'm choosing to trust in you, God. Because of you, I'm choosing not to be afraid.'

Then follow that with what David did. "But even though I'm afraid, God, I'm choosing to trust in you." Take it just as far as David did. Say it aloud. Write it down. Rehearse it. Refer to it to remind yourself. Say it over and over: "I believe your Word, God. I'm choosing to trust in you, God. Because of you, I'm choosing not to be afraid."

Examining this passage further, notice the last thing David says here: "What can mere mortals do to me?" Well, let's answer that question. Honestly, what could mortal men have done to him? Well, for starters, they could have killed him! Perhaps even worse, mortal men could have captured him, tortured him, imprisoned him, and made the rest of his life miserable. These all sound pretty horrible.

So if all that's true, then how was David able to overcome his fears? By refocusing his view of the problem, shifting his fear-fueled thoughts from the temporary, earthly point of view to an eternal perspective. By stepping back and viewing his fear from a more comprehensive perspective, David could say, "You know what? Even if my worst what-ifs come to pass, if I still choose to trust God, no one can do anything that hurts me eternally. Nothing." Suddenly his worst what-if paled in comparison with the goodness and faithfulness of God.

 

The farther away I get from God, the more the what-ifs of this world begin to pile on, trying to suffocate me with fear.

What about you? What's your greatest fear? Can you choose to trust God with it? Be as honest with yourself as you can. This is really important. In my experience, the farther away I get from God, the more the what-ifs of this world begin to pile on, trying to suffocate me with fear. But the closer I am to God, the more I'm able to trust him, and the less hold the things of this world have on me. Choose. Tell God what it is you're afraid of. Then trust him no matter what.

- Craig Groeschel

 

Learn More

Learn more about Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World.

 

Suggested Posts

"Lukewarm Christians" and other Oxymorons via Craig Groeschel
Is God Unfair? via Craig Groeschel

 

(Some styling above is web-exclusive and not included in the text of Soul Detox.This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its partners or representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

The Good News about Failure [Excerpt]

 

This post is for those of us who've thought, "When I get serious about spiritual growth, it seems like I just stumble more often. I'm taking one step forward, two steps backward!"

It feels discouraging, but there's good news for you. John Ortberg shares the news in this excerpt from The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You. -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

Experts in the learning field sometimes talk about the J-curve, a graph measuring performance, in which someone initially does worse before they start improving. Their progress looks like a letter "J" when graphed, with an initial dip before things head upward.

 

The J-curve is normal: We do worse for a season before we do better.

 

John Ortberg

If you have been hitting tennis backhands the wrong way, when someone teaches you the correct grip, proper form, and right footwork, when you begin to try to hit them the right way — you will actually hit them worse than when you were trying the wrong way! If you stick with it, however, eventually your backhand will be far better than before. But you have to accept that at first it will be worse.

 

When the disciple Peter first exercised enough faith to get out of the boat, he sank and looked worse than any of the other disciples. When he tried to defend Jesus, he cut off a man's ear. When he promised to be loyal, he fell flat on his faith. When he tried to advise Jesus, he was a devil's advocate.

 

Jesus was so patient with his disciples that we might think of the J-curve as the Jesus-curve.

Eventually, though, Peter's faith and boldness and loyalty and wisdom enabled him to become a leader of the church. But he got worse before he got better. Notice that this did not surprise or discourage Jesus. In fact, Jesus was so patient with his disciples that we might think of the J-curve as the Jesus-curve. He will never stop helping a follower of his who is sincerely seeking to grow.

 

Jesus will always lead us toward growth, and growth always requires risk, and risk always means failure. So Jesus is always leading us into failure. But he never gives up on a student just because he or she fails.

 

If you haven't been confronting when you should and you begin, you will do it badly at first. If you have rarely encouraged people, your initial attempts may be clumsy. If you have never shared your faith with someone, the first time you do it you may stumble all over yourself.

 

Go ahead and stumble. Failure isn't falling down; failure is refusing to try. We ought to celebrate failure. We are living on the J-curve.

-John Ortberg

 

Q: Am I harder on myself than Jesus is?

 

Learn More

Learn more about John Ortberg's book, The Me I Want to Be.
Follow John Ortberg on Twitter: @johnortberg.

 

Suggested Posts

Looking for a Few Difficult Men and Women via John Ortberg
Why Does Jesus Give "Life to the Full"? via John Ortberg
What Helps YOU Grow? via John Ortberg

 

(Some styling above is a web-exclusive feature not included in the text of The Me I Want to Be. J-curve image from TMIWTB. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

The Challenge of "Truth in Love" [Excerpt]

 

Passion for doing right is a good thing. It's also a little dangerous.

Jesus, who certainly was passionate about doing right, didn't withhold his love from those who did wrong. There's the challenge Philip Yancey poses below: in our deepest of convictions, let's be people of "truth in love." [This is an excerpt from Grace Notes: Daily Readings with Philip Yancey (eBook).] -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

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People who looked to Jesus as their political savior were constantly befuddled by his choice of companions. He became known as a friend of tax collectors, a group clearly identified with the foreign exploiters, not the exploited. Though he denounced the religious system of his day, he treated a leader like Nicodemus with respect, and though he spoke against the dangers of money and of violence, he showed love and compassion toward a rich young ruler and a Roman centurion.

 

In short, Jesus honored the dignity of every person, whether he agreed with them or not. He would not found his kingdom on the basis of race or class or other such divisions. Anyone, even a half-breed with five husbands or a thief dying on a cross, was welcome to join his kingdom. The person was more important than any category or label.

 

If I cannot show love to [people who make me angry], then I must question whether I have truly understood Jesus' gospel.

I feel convicted by this quality of Jesus every time I get involved in a cause I strongly believe in. How easy it is to join the politics of polarization, to find myself shouting across the picket lines at the "enemy" on the other side. How hard it is to remember that the kingdom of God calls me to love the woman who has just emerged from the abortion clinic (and, yes, even her doctor), the promiscuous person who is dying of AIDS, the wealthy landowner who is exploiting God's creation. If I cannot show love to such people, then I must question whether I have truly understood Jesus' gospel.

 

A political movement by nature draws lines, makes distinctions, pronounces judgment; in contrast, Jesus' love cuts across lines, transcends distinctions, and dispenses grace. Regardless of the merits of a given issue — whether a pro-life lobby out of the Right or a peace-and-justice lobby out of the Left — political movements risk pulling onto themselves the mantle of power that smothers love. From Jesus I learn that, whatever activism I get involved in, it must not drive out love and humility, or otherwise I betray the kingdom of heaven.

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-Philip Yancey

 

Q: Are you tempted to "exempt" certain groups of people from deserving love? Why is that? What would "speaking the truth in love" look like instead? [Ephesians 4:15]

Learn more about the eBook Grace Notes: Daily Readings with Philip Yancey
Visit Philip Yancey's blog

Suggested Posts

The Power of Disagreement via Ben Carson
Rebels for Positive Change via Ben Carson
How to Deal with Toxic Words via Craig Groeschel

 

(Some styling above is a web-exclusive feature not included in the text of Grace Notes. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

 

"Honey, I Saw a Shocking Man in the Marketplace Today" [Excerpt]

 

Mark Buchanan leads us into an ancient marketplace — the kind frequented by Jesus — and I don't think you'll be the same when we leave it.

Find out how Jesus's behavior in the marketplace shocked the respectable people of his day. This may change who you want to see in the church crowd on Sunday morning. [Excerpt from Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.] -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

A trip to the ancient marketplace

Mark Buchanan

Ancient markets were dirty places. You stood cheek by jowl with a ragtag bunch of sneezing, sputtering, coughing humanity. Mobs with filthy hands, open sores, nasty contagions, jostled shoulder to shoulder. All handled the same merchandise. Ten people groped nectarines, dried figs, pistachio nuts, and the eleventh person bought and ate them. Twenty people, some whose bodies had not seen water in a fortnight, tried on sandals before one man finally purchased and wore them.

 

Tablefuls of crockery and basketry and jewelery, of fresh vegetables and dried peppers and ham hocks and bread loaves, of leather aprons and cotton jerkins, all were caressed by a hundred fingers that also grubbed gardens and swabbed counters and dabbled in places unmentionable.

 

Everyone steeped in the broth of everyone else's breathing and sweating

At the market, small pieces of the debris of each and all were swapped about freely. Humanity's earthiness was bartered along with its wares. Everyone steeped in the broth of everyone else's breathing and sweating. Everyone took home a little souvenir from everyone else's personal collection, a memento or three from the man who slopped pigs, the woman who cleaned latrines, the boy who caught rats...

 

How to stay clean in the market

The Pharisees were careful, well-bred people. They took many necessary and wise precautions whenever any one of them was reduced to a visit to the market. Picking up some bug — the sniffles, a lingering cough — was the least of their worries... Their codebook for cleanliness, Leviticus primarily ... dealt with a different kind of uncleanness: moral, religious, spiritual. An open sore wasn't just infectious; it was a token of sin and a threat to intimacy with both God and others. Certain kinds of food were not just writhing with parasites or teeming with cholesterol... they were despised things that put those who ate them at risk of sullying themselves and alienating God...

 

Jesus' disciples ... are men without scruples.

The Pharisees and lawyers are not offended ... because of the disciples' glaring lack of hygienic discipline; they're offended because of their conspicuous lack — indeed, their out-and-out defiance — of well-established and widely agreed-upon moral standards. [For example, see Mark 7:1-5.] Jesus' disciples are scofflaws. They flout tradition with recklessness. They trespass clearly marked boundaries and vandalize the no-trespassing signs on their way across. They are men without scruples. They are men devoid of good sense, good breeding, good manners. They are men who, if their rabbi can't restrain them, then sterner measures should be employed.

 

All's to say, this scene that Mark records should in no way surprise us. To give his non-Jewish readers a little orientation ... Mark inserts parenthetically a comment about Jewish protocol for visits to the market. This is not just for Pharisees; it's for "all the Jews." These scruples — flagrantly thrown off by Bartholomew and the two Jameses and Peter and Judas, that whole sorry mob — are to be the badge of the law-abiding.

[Jewish readers of Mark's story would] be on the side of the Pharisees against Jesus and his unruly disciples. That would raise the alarm.

 

The sick invade the market

Even more, what would alarm [Jewish readers] — or, more likely, send them into paroxysms of moral shock — is the scene where "[People] ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went — into villages, towns or countryside — they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed" [Mark 6:53-56].

 

Look what gets hauled into the marketplace, and look who goes touching it. This portrait of people openly, deliberately placing the sick in the marketplaces reinforces every scruple a good Jew has about such places: avoid them, and when you can't, take a good, hot, long shower as soon as you get home. For someone to openly, deliberately bring sick people into such places, and for anyone to openly, deliberately touch them ... is, well, scandalous.

 

In Jesus ... holiness is no longer a hothouse flower that wilts on contact. It is a cedar of Lebanon.

Mark no doubt juxtaposes these two scenes from the marketplace to set up a stark and sharp contrast, and to underline how radically Jesus changes the rules. In Jesus ... holiness is no longer a hothouse flower that wilts on contact. It is a cedar of Lebanon, the balm of Gilead, and even the edge of his cloak spills with healing. His holiness is not a delicacy to be primly guarded; it is an invading force that overwhelms resistance. It is a force to be reckoned with, not some keepsake to be safely stowed away.

 

How the market is like the church

What I want to emphasize here is that this is a template for the church. The market is a classic in-between place, where cultures and classes come together. Markets intersect the rich and poor, the old and young, the good and bad, the beautiful and sordid. It's everyone's world in general, and no one's in particular.

 

The way the traditionally religious inhabit such places is that they don't; they make forays into them, guarded, priggish, stealthy, squeamish, fleeting. In and out. They rush in, holding their noses, closing their eyes. They get what they need. They rush out, and try to scour any residue of the place from skin and heart and mind.

 

[Jesus] is unstoppable with redemption. He is a holy terror.

The way Jesus inhabits such places is subversively, massively, invasively. He comes with healing in his wings [Mark 6:53-56]. He moves toward those who move toward him, the kingdom of God on a collision course with a world half pleading, half defying. His arms are spread wide, to make more of himself, to gather more into himself, to pour more out of himself. He is large with compassion. He is unstoppable with redemption. He is a holy terror.

When the kingdom within him collides with the world as it is, the kingdom will break that broken world, break and break it until it makes it anew. The lame will walk, the blind will see, the mute will speak, the deaf will hear. The foolish will become wise, the cowardly brave, the stingy generous. Angry people will first taste peace, in their bones, and then start making peace, from their hearts. Bitter people will forgive. The joyless will become joyful.

This is, I said, a good template for the church.

- Mark Buchanan

 

Q: Does your church resemble an ancient marketplace? Why or why not?

 

Learn More

Learn more about Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.

 

Suggested Posts

Unity: The Christian's Calling Card via Mark Buchanan
How Can We Share God's Peace? via Mark Buchanan
The Smell of the World that Jesus Died for via Margaret Feinberg

(Image and some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Your Church Is Too Safe. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Is Christ Delightful? (On Contagious Christianity - Excerpt)

 

"Is Christ delightful?" asks John Flavel, and darn - he's got me! Yes, Christ is delightful, but too often I use my words and actions to broadcast a different message — something like, "I feel harried and anxious."

Flavel's right about the delightfulness of Christ. He is a better God than anything we'd choose to prioritize over him, and we can delight instead of worry. I hope this passage from the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible: Voices from the Past and Present will help you delight more fully in Christ — or as Hybels says below, "catch [Christ's] love and then urgently and infectiously offer it" to others. 

-Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

Is Christ delightful? [by John Flavel, AD 1630–1691]

John Flavel

Show the world Christ — as he really is — through your actions and your words.

Is he completely delightful? Let all the world see and know that he is so — by the way you delight in him, in the intimacy of your relationship with him, through your passion for him, and through your readiness to part with anything else you might enjoy besides him. Proclaim his superiority to the world... Persuade them how much your beloved is better than any other beloved. Reveal his glorious perfection as you speak of him.

Proclaim him to others as he is in himself: perfectly beautiful. See that you "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way" (Colossians 1:10). "Declare the praises" of Christ (1 Peter 2:9)... He is glorious in himself, and he is sure to place his glory upon you. So be careful not to bring shame and dishonor to him. He has committed his honor to you; do not betray that trust.

Never be ashamed to be counted as a Christian.

 

Becoming a Contagious Christian [by Bill Hybels]

Bill Hybels

Deep in every true Christian, there is an awareness that we are on this planet for purposes greater than having a career, paying the bills, loving our families and fulfilling our role as upstanding citizens. Even going to church and worshiping God — important as these are — sometimes leave us feeling that something is missing. After all, we'll worship God for eternity in heaven; we don't have to be here to do that.

 

What is it that's absent in the lives of so many believers who are crying out for fulfillment? What on earth is God asking us to do?

 

God wants us to become contagious Christians — his agents, who will first catch his love and then urgently and infectiously offer it to all who are willing to consider it. This is his primary plan, the one Jesus modeled so powerfully, to spread God's grace and truth person to person until there's an epidemic of changed lives around the world.

 

Learn More

Learn more about the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible

 

Q: The only way that the people you live and work and play with may see Christ is through you. So what's one thing people see when they look at you?

Further Reading

A Heavenly Party via the NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible
Flourishing in Action via John Ortberg

 

(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

 

How to Pursue Life after Loss [Excerpt]

 

The ever-honest Jerry Sittser reflects on the pain of losing a loved one, and how we can free ourselves from destructive feelings such as regret, hatred, bitterness, and despair. If you feel crushed under the weight of regret, I hope Jerry's gentle but honest wisdom is a blessing to you. [Excerpt from A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss (eBook).] -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

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If I want transformation, I must let go of my regrets over what could have been and pursue what can be. But what I cannot have is the best of both worlds: the growth that has transformed my life as a result of the tragedy and the people whose death engendered that growth.

 

There is a bitter irony here that cannot be avoided, however much we grow through loss. The people whose death enabled me to change for the better are the very people with whom I would most like to share these changes. Their death has forced me to grow; I wish now that they could benefit from the growth that has resulted from their death.

 

Our choice to make

Many people are destroyed by loss because, learning what they could have been but failed to be, they choose to wallow in guilt and regret, to become bitter in spirit, or to fall into despair. While nothing they can do will reverse the loss, it is not true that there is nothing they can do to change.

 

We cannot change the situation, but we can allow the situation to change us.

The difference between despair and hope, bitterness and forgiveness, hatred and love, and stagnation and vitality lies in the decisions we make about what to do in the face of regrets over an unchangeable and painful past. We cannot change the situation, but we can allow the situation to change us. We exacerbate our suffering needlessly when we allow one loss to lead to another. That causes gradual destruction of the soul...

 

It is natural, of course, for those who suffer catastrophic loss to feel destructive emotions like hatred, bitterness, despair, and cynicism. These emotions may threaten to dominate anyone who suffers tragedy and lives with regret. We may have to struggle against them for a long time, and that will not be easy. Few people who suffer loss are spared the temptation of taking revenge, wallowing in self-pity, or scoffing at life. But after a period of struggle, which sometimes leads to catharsis and release, it may become apparent to us that we are becoming prisoners to these emotions and captive to their power over our lives. At that point we must decide whether or not to allow these destructive emotions to conquer us...

 

Our feelings don't own us

[Our feelings are] not the center of reality. God is the center of reality.

This struggle will show us that emotions like anger or self-pity, however natural and legitimate, do not define reality. Our feelings do not determine what is real, though the feelings themselves are real. We cannot ignore these feelings, but neither should we indulge them. Instead, we should acknowledge them without treating them as if they were ultimate truth. The feeling self is not the center of reality. God is the center of reality.

To surrender to God, however contrary to our emotions, will lead to liberation from self and will open us to a world that is much bigger and grander than we are.

- Jerry Sittser

 

Learn More

Learn more about A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss.

 

Suggested Posts

Regret and Other Opportunities via Jerry Sittser
A Soul Like a Balloon via Jerry Sittser
Winter of the Soul via Mark Buchanan

 

(Some styling above is a web-exclusive feature not included in the text of A Grace Disguised. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Unity: The Christian's Calling Card [Excerpt]

 

Potent stuff today from author/pastor Mark Buchanan: Why "oneness" is superior to "equality;" the benefits of pursuing church unity; and what's at stake if we don't. Excerpt from Mark Buchanan's book Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.

A brief open letter to Mark: "Dear Pastor Buchanan, your writing on unity convicts my introverted soul. For your next book, please write "Your Life Is Too Safe: The Introvert's Field Guide to Joining Community."  -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

Equality vs. oneness

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The Bible is little interested in equality. It aims much higher than that. From Genesis to Revelation, it calls us to this deeper, greater, tougher, sweeter thing: oneness. Oneness in our relationship with God. Oneness in our relationship with our spouse. Oneness with our relationships with other Christ-followers. Oneness in the church.

 

Oneness beats equality every time, because equality demands sameness. To be equal to you, I have to be as smart and strong and kind and generous as you. But oneness presumes difference. To be one with you, I have to accept your gift of otherness. I can be weak where you're strong, and vice versa. Oneness requires my life to complement yours. It calls us to complete one another.

 

Mark Buchanan

In marriage, for example, who wants equality? "We're even" is hardly a motto for lifelong affection. Whereas oneness is intrinsically cooperative, equality is inherently competitive, a recipe for endless one-upmanship. Or worse: a recipe for disaster. Equality was the false dream of Marx and Lenin, an ideology so unworkable in real life that its architects created one of the deadliest and darkest social nightmares in history. On a more personal level, equality is what people strive for in a divorce: half the assets, half the money, half the time with the kids. The scales must be exactly even then. But in a thriving marriage, the husband can be good at cooking and the wife at house repairs, each serving the other, and the resulting oneness means they both eat well in a house well kept.

 

Oneness, dwelling together in unity, is a good and pleasant thing in itself, much better than equality, and much, much better than animosity.

 

God's call to oneness

A church unified is ... a pageantry of the kingdom played out before a broken world to convince those who are far away to come near.

So God calls the church to oneness. He does that so that we can enjoy the goodness and pleasantness of it. God is a giver, and "every good and perfect gift" is from above [James 1:17]. But he has another reason for calling us to unity: nothing rehearses the kingdom of God better than our oneness. A church unified is an ensign and a showcase of the kingdom. It's a pageantry of the kingdom played out before a broken world to convince those who are far away to come near...

 

We join a church not because it's already whole, pure, and mature but to help it become so.

Church unity, Paul says, is a gift of the Spirit held together by the presence of Christ ("the bond of peace") rooted in the character of God ("there is one God") [Ephesians 4:1-17]. Yet even with all this — the gift, the glue, the root — unity still requires our every effort to keep, something that anyone who's been part of a church community for more than, say, three weeks knows is true. We join a church not because it's already whole, pure, and mature but to help it become so...

 

What's at stake?

If we can't live reconciled lives with one another, how will God make his appeal through us? We will be sweet water and salt water coming from the same spigot. We will be walking, talking contradictions. If we lack oneness with those already in the church, how will we possibly convince anyone outside it that this is God's main business, reconciling the world to himself in Christ? They'll see right through our little facade.

 

Unity ... is our diplomatic calling card.

Unity within the church is the heart of our appeal. Living reconciled lives with other believers validates our message to a fragmented, isolated, divided world. Unity among us vouchsafes our ambassadorial authority. It is our diplomatic calling card. Without it, the emperor — or ambassador — has no clothes.

- Mark Buchanan

 

Learn More

Learn more about Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.

 

Suggested Posts

How Can We Share God's Peace? via Mark Buchanan
What Peter and the Church Have in Common via Samuel Wells

 

(Some styling above is a web-exclusive feature not included in the text of Your Church Is Too Safe. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)