LOVE

I am sad that people still fall victim (myself included) to clever predatory language perpetrated by divisive media outlets, tertiary institutions and professors, and political orators. Intellectualism has risen to god-like status.

(I’m kinda writing free here… let’s just see where this leads.)

Our own understanding gets us into a lot of trouble at times. We as sheep are fuelled by emotion. Injustice. Fear. So when particular words fill our ears for long enough, and when anger fuels our hearts, we react without any thought as to the myriad of other viewpoints and counterpoints that could be out there and instead we simply just stampede. We shut others down.

Dishonour. Disrespect. Anyone or anything who appears to stand in direct opposition to us, we shove to the ground without so much as a moment to contemplate: “I know a lot about my social justice / political / educational stance, but have I actually taken the time to get to know theirs? Have I taken the time to hear their hearts?” “How must they feel?” “Do their hearts feel safe right now, or am I doing exactly what I am angry at them for doing in the first place?”

And so we arm ourselves with the ‘unwise’ “wisdom” of other sheep and take aim at one another, completely missing who we were created to ‘be’, and who others were also created to be, right there in our compliance to the disease of division.

Jesus—the Messiah the world had been waiting for—stood in front of unruly crowds on trial. The religious leaders had put Him there because they were too blind to see beyond their own understandings. They didn’t want to see. Religious laws and self-righteousness were their gods. In fact, not only did they put on trial the very one who came to redeem everything that had been lost; but they exchanged Jesus for a man who had been a part of an insurrection against the occupation of Roman forces, and who had committed murder for his social justice cause.

Jesus didn’t argue about the exchange, but instead, when He was eventually hung on the cross after hours and hours of explicit mental and physical torture, He looked out at the ones who were hating on Him from the position of their own intellectual understanding (this included the murderer Barabbas) and said, “Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

What a lone, powerful, unifying figure Jesus, the one spotless, innocent lamb, cast across the first, second and third heavens; across all timelines and all the cosmos. His words are now woven into the fabric of the universe from before time until after: “Forgive them”; they can’t see they’re poor, blind, barren and naked (Rev 3:17). “Forgive them”; love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13). “Forgive them”; I am restoring that which was lost.

These days, we circumnavigate the patience and kindness of love while we take aim at others on behalf of our own jaded or incomplete points of view in the name of ‘love’. Then we rally our numbers in support of our own causes, stampede, tear down, and divide, divide, divide, just like the father we align ourselves with in such states: Lucifer.

I am unsure as to why we do this as the father of death can never bring life: he can only bring death. All he knows to do is prowl around like a roaring lion waiting to see who he can devour. All he does is steal, kill and destroy. How do we lose perspective so quickly and align ourselves with this fool? It usually begins with clever language and targeted injustice.

Alternatively: To gain perspective, we are invited to look from our position of being seated in Heavenly places ‘in’ Jesus, where we can instantly align ourselves with our true Father—the actual Father out of whom our very images were created. Instead of tearing down, we would then find we have the capacity to build up, to forgive and redeem, to create and unify. His words will cut away death and decay and they will always bring life.

Seeing from above allows us distance to gain fresh clarity, while inhabiting our true identity as his sons and daughters and He as our true Father, creates life and life more abundant around us.

Life begets life. Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control are not subject to intellectualism and legalities; they are fruits of the Spirit that flourish when we occupy the Kingdom of God, and when we imitate our true Father.

The door is open for us to imitate Jesus and our true Father. We don’t have to be swayed by clever language and the intellect of the god of this world; we can instead become a people possessed by the unfathomable supernatural power of His love.