"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly"
Our misunderstanding of the purpose of salvation
We are constantly trying to get people hooked up to God, but we often do not tell them what will be the result when they hook up. It is too much to be filled with that much love. They do not want to turn on the spigot. They have always had to ration their love before and now they have it in abundance, but some go on rationing it as though God would run out or not give you any more if you let His love really flow through you to others. Some just turn the spigot off, afraid of losing too much love or becoming crazed with love. They would not want to appear different or changed, so they keep the love of God bottled up.
How pathetic if we have a hose full of love and never open the spigot. Jesus came to bring us life and that means loving at a radically new level. We only enjoy abundant living when the spigot is wide open, filling those around us with love. What would it look like if you didn't hold back but instead loved your spouse, your children, your parents, your co-workers, other Christians, friends, your community? Each of these are obviously in a priority order and constrained by time, but you can cut loose with love and live a different life.
Some people are just tasters of the love of the truly saved. They do not want to be dispensers of God's love; they want to be consumers of it. They marry a Christian spouse. They want to get the good end of the deal every time with little or no input from them. This is a skimmer and a person who lives a limited life. There is more joy in the giving than there is in the receiving.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz