Living in the Spirit
August 25, 2018
Scripture Reading: John 6:56-69
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’ –John 6:56-69
The teaching referred to in the above scripture is Jesus saying we must eat his flesh and drink his blood to be a part of his Kingdom. Of course, he is speaking metaphorically but I do not think he is overstating the case. The internal struggles that occur within us as we deal with the temptations of the world and the commandments to love God and love one another are hard. Our tendencies are to define narrowly what loving one another means and often define the other as people who are like us. We expel people from the list of those we must love who are not our color, not our sexuality, not our income bracket, not our language, not our faith. Jesus identified no limits.
We also like to restrict our love by our definition of sin. We say we love people but not their sin. In this case, we apply our definitions of sin to the other setting ourselves up as a judge. I think Jesus was clear that none of us got the assignment of being judge regarding others relationship with God. Jesus set the example by interacting with all types of people seeming to prefer those who were viewed as outcasts. Perhaps he thought they needed more of his love since, we his followers, were not willing to love them.
The paradox is when we let go of our need to control God and learn to love like Jesus, life gets much easier not harder. We do not have those internal struggles we do not have to worry about what other people think or how they will react. If we allow the love of God to flow through us, it is much easier to let our love flow to others.
Prayer: Lord, cleanse me of the insecurities that hold me back from loving like Jesus. Amen.