The Land and Life of Endless Light

Well, I had a different blog I was working on this afternoon, but I was interrupted while writing it and kind of lost my motivation when I came back to it. So, I saved it and will post it another time, plus it felt a little forced writing it, and I'd rather for the writings to come a little smoother than what it was.

This weekend I was on duty at the dorm and couldn't go to church this morning, which bummed me out. I'm not going to lie and say that sleeping in wasn't great, but it would have been much more fulfilling to go to church and be around my community of believers that help make up the bride of Christ. I think it's hugely important to be around those that help build you up and encourage you and really push you in continuing to grow.

I've been really blessed with the community of believers here on campus. Our CSF group is awesome. I love getting to see my fellow college students serve each other whether through helping lead worship, or leading small groups or those that come to set up and tear down the room that we're in. I listened to a sermon today while working on my pottery by Francis Chan entitled "Grace and Love" and his passage for that sermon was Galatians 5:1-15, and the verses that I really love are 13&14 which say, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

There is something truly incredible about loving others through serving. It's something that is not really pushed in our culture. We look at greatness as: how much you have or how you seem better than the other guy. But serving others, actually loving others, is selfless. True love for someone is selfless. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Jesus knew this when he came to earth, it was why he came to earth. To show us that unconditional, agape, love and set us free of the bondage of sin.

I am a selfish person, I don't always like admitting it but I am. It's something that I struggle with a lot actually. The later part of Romans 7 really does a better job of explaining that struggle than I ever could. Recently though, my selfishness has been revealed to me in a new way. Being in an amazingly Christ-centered relationship with a very godly woman, has been incredible in more ways than I could describe. But, one of the ways that I know Christ is in this relationship is in the way He reveals sin in my life and uses Emily to help shed some of that light in my life. And I know that she is showing Christ's love in helping me grow more like Jesus, instead of allowing me to remain in my sinful and stubborn ways. I remember hearing a sermon about how sometimes our punishment for our sin is that we remain in that sin. Too many times I think about being punished for sin as getting caught and having consequences that go along with that, but really it's good to get caught and be disciplined. Proverbs 13:24 is usually quoted as "spare the rod, spoil the child" but it actually goes a little more like "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." It's a tough thing to think about, being disciplined for doing something wrong, our culture loves slackness, letting people off the hook or letting it slide this one time. But really, that doesn't make an impact, it doesn't change how people think.

Our goal as Christ followers is to pursue a life of righteousness and part of that is learning from our sins, not going back to those sins or "returning to vomit like a dog." As much as it hurts sometimes of having certain sins revealed or to be brought out into the open, it's really one of the greatest things as believers that can happen. To have that darkness of sin be exposed to the light means that it can't hide, it has no place to go except away, and to have those who love and truly care for you know what your struggles are, and help keep you accountable is amazing, because as sin leaves our life, we begin to look more like our savior, a perfect human and the son of God. While the rest of my life will be of God transforming my life to look more and more like his son's, I'm enjoying what He is doing now, using those around me who care and love me enough to help bring me to my knees and shed that light on the sin in my life that needs to be exposed.

*I will go ahead and apologize if my theology is not completely correct in what I've just written, I do want to have correct theology and not be a false teacher by preaching incorrect truths, but I did want to share some thoughts that have been on my heart.