choose love

yesterday at church was so amazing. probably one of the best times in the presence of God our church has had up to this point, in my opinion. the atmosphere was so sweet and loving, emotionally healing, forgiving, and uniting. i'm so thankful that God still speaks! and i'm very grateful for people who aren't afraid to stand up and share it, when He says something important to them. because God's words change people. God's words create. God's words heal and restore and encourage. and when we become broken and vulnerable and open ourselves up to what He is saying, amazing things happen. 

here's basically what the word was: there are only two sides. and you get to choose where to stand. you can either stand on the side of the living God, the King of Kings, the one who created you and loves you and made a way for you and has a purpose for you. or, you can choose to stand with Satan, your enemy, the accuser. 

there have been a lot of mistakes in my life, and in yours. we are all still human. the accuser will take every opportunity he can to blow those mistakes way out of proportion and cause conflict. do you want to stand with the accuser? and hold things against people? (even if it is true, cause the accuser will probably accuse about things that have been done) but is it more important to be right about something than it is to stand on the side of the living God? 

on God's side, we have to forgive. we have to let go of hurts and offenses. we have to love. we have to reconcile. we have to bless. we have to choose to see and believe the best in people. we have to trust.

on the side of the accuser, you can stay wounded. you can point fingers. you can hold things against people. you can hate. you can get bitter. you can curse others. you can gossip. you can do whatever your flesh wants. 

but in the end, you will find out - you are on the wrong side. 

WW3 shouldn't start in the church. how can one Body fight against itself? (thats what we're supposed to be - a Body.) so lets stop the "self loathing", "self deprecating", "self destructive", "suicidal thoughts" about the Body of Christ. the Body should not be destroying itself. the Body of Christ should not be a cutter, taking a knife to its own parts to cause pain and leave scars. thats sick. thats demonic. 

so choose love. its that simple. no he said, she said. no grudges. no open wounds. no keeping score. just understanding, that although we desire to all become like Christ, we all get it wrong sometimes. we all still battle with our thoughts, our emotions, and our actions. the best thing we can do is give each other the benefit of the doubt. and go directly to each other when there is something wrong. and truly forgive, like Jesus does - and cast their sins into a sea of forgetfulness, separate the sins from them as far as the east is from the west. when we look at each other, we should see Him. and nothing else. because that is what God sees when He looks at us. For God made Christ, who never sinned, to become the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Him (aka so that we might become the righteousness of God). so choose to see righteousness as God sees righteousness. choose mercy as God has been merciful. choose forgiveness as God has forgiven you. choose grace as God has been gracious. 

choose love.