
The battle truly begins not with legislation, but in the hearts of men.
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked.
Who really knows how bad it is?"
- He taught us that loving our neighbors and loving our enemies would bring peace.
- He taught us that hurt is not something we "get over", but something we can stand up on top of, something that we can conquer.
- He taught us that revenge doesn't heal the hurt or the longing but that redemption does.
- He taught us that real love is self-sacrificial, not selfish.
- He taught us that wealth and power fades, money is fickle, but that holiness stores up endless dividends.
- He taught us that all life matters to God, ESPECIALLY the lives of the poor, oppressed, despondent, and ostracized.
- He taught us that the Kingdoms of this world will always fail at giving humanity its deepest longing.
- He taught us to pray with true expectant hope.
- He taught us to take care of each other and look out not for our own interests but also the interests of others.
- He taught us that loving God means loving others.
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.“Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”
- 1 Peter 2:9-12 NLT
We are justified by faith... but we become holy not by thinking right thoughts, but by living out what God calls us to.
Jesus wasn't a theologian locked in a library, he was a practitioner... and He calls us to the same.
- Say hi to your next door neighbor. Get to know their name and their story.
Buy coffee for a stranger.
By all means, pray. Pray for wisdom and for guidance. Pray that God melts your heart for the people who He loves. - Read the Bible. Start with a Gospel (Matthew is a good one!) Put into practice what you read about.
- Show kindness to the girl at work who gets under your skin.
- Sit with the kid that no one likes.
- Buy lunch for a homeless man.