When we think about the nature of our flesh and how man has struggled over and over with it throughout history, it can create an impossible scenario within your mind. Anyone who has an addiction or a bad habit can testify that the flesh is very powerful. God knew this from the beginning when we fell and He already knew that we couldn't follow rules or laws. He also knew, to vanquish the flesh, He would need to do it Himself by inserting Himself in us to do so. Our contribution to this is faith in Him and what He has already accomplished. We often feel like we cannot come out from under the power of the flesh yet He has already done it in us, we just need to believe He has. It's called trust. Throughout the new testament Paul writes about this very idea and yet we still give credence to the flesh. He says Christ has raised us into a new life but we have been so conditioned to fail we don't have faith in His finished work.
1John 4:7-21
7Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrificed for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
15If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.
18There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. 19We love because He first loved us.
20If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
We are not taught this. We read it but when we read it, we read it as a fantasy, a dream, something the early church walked in but now it's impossible to do. You see, that's fear and condemnation and sin talking right there. We have been given the tools to walk outside of sin and to walk in Him, in His love.
This is not about following a list of rules and whoever follows the rules does good. No, the rules and laws were thrown out when we were resurrected in Christ. It is a mind thing. You have truth and you can either believe in the truth which causes you to walk in the truth or you can believe a lie and walk in the lie.
Verse 16 above, "we have come to know and believe the love God has for us." You see, we must come to know the love He has and believe in the love He has for us. Without knowledge, understanding and faith in His love, we cannot walk in His love. This is the key that unlocks everything. We cannot walk in completion when we only take parts of God's love instead of all of it.
Most confess that God loved us enough to forgive us of our sins through Christ. Most do not believe that He came not only to forgive but to get rid of sin altogether in us. It's because getting rid of sin takes action on our part. It takes a seeking, that's how we come to know His love is to seek it. Once we seek, we will find the Love God has for us. It will be permanently etched on our hearts and it will change how we believe and in turn change how we walk.
Once we have come to the knowledge, then come to the understanding of that knowledge, then our walk can reflect it and then we become like Him in our daily walk. We can then love others and have no hate for them. We will only see them how the Father sees them and that's as a completed Son.
Here's the big question that undoubtedly causes issues for most. Can we walk in perfection? Yes, in Him we can walk in complete perfection. Is it hard to do? Seek God out, ask Him for understanding and revelation into His love for you. It may take a day, a week or a year but keep on asking for Him to reveal how much He loves you. Trust me, your not ready for it. It will cause your whole world to turn upside down. It will change how you feel about yourself so you can heal from life long wounds. It will change how you see others. It will definitely change your walk. However, the beauty of knowing your loved and that you can love back is too wonderful to ever want anything else.
Seek His love out. Know you are washed, cleaned and forgiven. Know you are a son or daughter. Believe in these things then seek more.
To God be my Love for all!
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