Platform of Love
A platform by definition is a raised horizontal surface people can use to stand on. However, another definition for platform is a declaration of the principles on which a group of persons stands; especially a declaration of principles and policies adopted by a political party or a candidate. So today I want to declare that all of us should live on a platform of love. I believe that living on this platform would change the world, but especially the world that surrounds us: our homes, our neighborhoods, our schools, etc. Jesus once said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." This is an astronomical heart shift from current society and our current environment. Because not only should we love one another, but Jesus actually said that we should love the same way He loves. That is a wild standard of loving others when you think about it.
In ancient times when Christians would be imprisoned, people would walk for miles to give their fellow Christian brothers and sisters something to eat in prison. The Roman guards would be amazed by the immense amount of love displayed among these people called Christians. If loving like Jesus is our standard, and needs to be placed in it's proper place in our lives, how do most Christians put that type of loving in their life's agenda? Unfortunately, for many conservative Christians, other things and mind sets have been placed on their platform. For example, things like obedience and fear instead of love have been placed on that platform. However, the reality is that obedience without love doesn't make sense and it's not sustainable. The shelf life of someone that has an obedience mindset in the church will not last long until bitterness and resentment creep in. This is true for the spiritual realm as it is in the human relationship spectrum. I remember a married couple I knew that used to go to church together. Their family platform was obedience. Living to obey God and His commands was their MO. Years into their marriage things became bitter, and one of the spouses left the marriage and went wild. Totally against the way they used to live. Obedience without love has a short shelf life.
I'm not writing that obeying God is wrong, but what I am writing is that obedience should not be the platform of our lives. We need to filter everything and everyone through the filter of love and put things in the right perspective. When we live this way...when we start filtering everything and everyone through God's love...we will be transformed. In addition, we will see life differently, we will notice the marginalized and those suffering around us through a new lens. In fact, we might even see people who hurt us through the eyes of God's love and live by what Jesus said concerning our enemies, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." If what He said in the first quote I shared wasn't hard enough, this quote takes us to a whole new level. I believe once we embrace how much God loves us, that we will be able to understand best how we can love how Jesus wants us to love others. So I encourage you to make space to seek how much God truly loves you today.
How will you respond to this new outlook? Will you start filtering everything and everyone through the eyes of love? What is your platform?
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