How is something measured? In order to measure something you must ascertain the size, amount, or degree of (something) by using an instrument or device marked in standard units or by comparing it with an object of known size. In short you must first have something that has a known value before you can gauge anything else. So that you are able to articulate to others somethings size, weight or greatness. This applies to buildings and math as well as it does to people.
I am getting to my point, just bare with me. In order to measure ones morals or way of thinking to be right, first you must make a clear distinction on what is good. What is right. Who gave you this understanding? Your parents? Colleagues? Society? And how can you be sure that they are right? Documentation? How far you can trace it back through history?Good feelings when you see it? Do you just know? I received mine from God, who taught my parents and when I was old enough to understand and willing to listen, He taught me directly. I can hear your eyebrows raising from here. But if you look at religion as merely a calming set of motions or routine, you missed it. It's not about what you do or what you say or how you live in front of people. Truly being a follower of Christ means having a relationship with him. Likened to a father son relationship. You want to do better and you want to make him proud because of who He is to you. Not just some clock maker or distant spaghetti monster. But because of the foundation of the Christian faith, love.
I am aware that my title sounds delusional to some, hard to swallow by others, and some who understand what I mean. Previously I wrote about my parents who made great strides to invest in me and teach me how to become a man. But that was only part of the story.You could say that its like Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." but its more than just what I was taught as a child. When I became old enough to challenge my parents and the Bible, I did. And I tried to find my place in the world without God.
Here is what I found. The standards that I was taught on just morals, excluding faith, made me hold others and myself to a higher standard that no one kept. As a teenager it is incredibly disheartening to see that society is not good. It is merely existing. As an adult my despair grew worse. There were no higher aspirations. No drive that has a true momentum to last longer than the emotions one feels scrolling through Facebook. Flashes of concern with no heart. No weeping. No joy. No consideration. So I tried to use a thought process of "If it benefits me then...." Throw all caution to the wind with morals and reasoning. If it benefits me then I'll do it. Traveled the world and looked into other religions. But nothing made me feel wanted. There was acceptance but only skin deep. There was.... pick an emotion, and it felt shallow to the point of painful. So I decided to just exist. No gods or God
But this desire to be better and to be understood brought me back to God. I wanted hope. I needed purpose. That there is more to life than just endless masquerades. I wanted substance. I craved pure love. Not this watered down crap you see on tv. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
The video above is quite long but Ravi Zacharias is quite possibly the most intelligent man I have ever had the good fortune of hearing.
I have looked all over the world and have seen and heard what others claim to be true but I could not accept it as truth. Because the fruit of their teaching was not good(Luke 7:43-45) It wasn't pure. The ruler or moral compass if you will, that I received from God was so complete that I know matter where I looked, I could not find any other way to consolidate this into something shorter. Matthew 22:37-340 "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Many people miss what Jesus just said. That loving your neighbor is JUST as important as loving God. And that if you can disprove this or find something greater, that the whole Bible is false. By this direction, love, is the driving force and the measurement for which I can not find any other reason to live my life.
In my experience, lots of good people do not believe in the "Lord your God" and therefore cannot love Him or follow the commandment to do so. But they do love their neighbors, without being commanded to do so. Good people don't need commandments and enlightened people don't trust them, or those who would compel their faithful assent in the absence of good reasons.
ReplyDeleteFunny, how often people who say they've looked all over the world come home to what's familiar from earliest childhood instruction. Seems to be in our nature to prefer the devil we know, as it were. But in my experience, again, no single tradition or ideology monopolizes spiritual truth. Goodness is goodness, love is love, whatever its source.
Great post, I think it's not so much God commanding us to love, He has given us free will. But we are made in His image, and He loved the world and all His creation. I believe this is where our love comes from, and where our love for nature and others around us comes from.
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