Tag Archives: Relationships

Custom Fit

Romans 14:6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other. MSG

I had to smile when I read this version of Romans 14 because of thanking God for broccoli. It’s a lighthearted paraphrase and a very good reminder “it’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—.”

It’s the mystery of faith. On one hand it’s completely personal, custom tailored for you…not by you…but it grows and matures in the midst of our very public relationships as believers.

If the way you live is consistent with what you believe you can trust that God will make the necessary alterations to that custom fit as you grow so your faith and your relationships always make you look your best.

True Love

There’s an easy confidence that comes with knowing exactly what the mornings thought will focus on. That’s over. I’m choosing a new reading plan. It feels awkward even though it’s still the same familiar resource. Maybe that’s my learning curve – coping with the new and awkward parts of daily life. We’ll see.

1 John 4:7-12
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Ah love, I feel it so much better than I do it. Love is easier to take than to give. These are not new words to me but they present some challenges because there’s a disconnect between their truth and my reality.

Challenge #1: v7b – Truly believing…”EVERYONE [caps for emphasis] who loves has been born of God and knows God” is a relationship changer.

Challenge #2: Getting the sequence right. This is love…
1. “…not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…”
2. “…we also ought to love one another.
3. “…if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us”

True love let’s us see God in one another and completes what he’s begun in us.