The Law of the Kingdom

Every king and kingdom has its laws.  In order to be a productive citizen of a kingdom one must follow its laws.  Otherwise, he is considered an OUTlaw, not in sync with the king or his kingdom.

The older I am and the more I read and study scripture, the more I realize that King Jesus' law was simple: LOVE.  

Love the Lord, your God, with ALL your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.  [Matthew 22]

I am giving you a new commandment.

Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples. [John 13]

You are My friends if you do what I command.  [John 15]

I cannot think of anything I would rather be than a friend of Jesus, The One True King.  St. Theresa of Avila says,"Do with your life whatever will set you free to give the most love."  For the remainder of my years, that is what I want to do.  I want to love the loveable and the unlovely. 

Believe it or not, I've seen many believers who concentrated their love on those outside of their fellowship or their neighborhood.  They'll commit to everything but their fellowship: ministry, missions, seminars, etc.

We were made to exist in community.  We were not made to live in isolation.  Our fellowship, our little community, is to be like a healthy, loving family.  It is in such a  cosmos and in our own families (should we be fortunate to have godly families) that we learn how to really live and love so that we can really love those lost out in the world.

1Peter 3 gives instructions about the dynamics of a loving, believing community.

• a place where people share their hurts and find sympathy
• a place where people humbly express their needs and receive loving care
• a place where people forgive one another instead of plotting revenge
• a place where people pray for one another
• a place where people are careful not to say things that will unnecessarily hurt others
• a place where people are honest about who they really are
• a place where people seek to do good for one another
• a place where people try to live in peace by lovingly resolving conflicts with each other
• 
  

These are just a few of the ways we can love those within our own fellowship.  Whatever we do or don't do to each other is like doing it or not doing it to Jesus Himself. [Matthew 25] 

This kind of love isn't easy and is often painful because it requires something most of us are afraid to be - VULNERABLE.  Pride doesn't want others to know that we don't have it all together, that there are pockets of pride and hatred and jealousy in our lives, that we don't want to hang out with those who aren't in the "in crowd."  We are not called to like everyone, but we are called to love them.

So, I want to throw down my nets today and follow Him, follow Love Himself.

I leave you with a definition from St. Theresa:  "True spiritual love is to obey Him in everything and offend Him in nothing."

May that become every believer's motto.