02 21 08 Just a Nobody

“So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.”
(Philippians 1:9-11 Message)

The great and best Good News is this: God’s truth is a person – Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are not our emotions! We are not defined by our emotions. You are defined by God. We may feel worthless, but God says we are wonderfully and fearfully created in his image. We may feel like we’ve failed God, but God says we are accepted in the beloved and that he loves us no matter what we’ve done.
Just like any other love relationship we may have, God requires us to love well. He doesn’t need quantity, but requires quality….sincerity in our hearts. There is no need for sentimemntal gush; God knows our heart. We hear constantly in love relationships how one would die for the ones they love. Are we willing to live for Christ…the only true lover of our soul? If asked today, could we say Jesus is proud of how we are living for Him and loving Him?

While we as human beings are filled with emotions, we are defined by who we are in Christ Jesus. Without Him we can’t possibly know the meaning of love. We can’t really comprehend suffering when compared to how He suffered for our sin. We’ll never know the loneliness He experienced when left alone on the cross. Compassion was the personified in the life of Christ. Without knowing Him, we have no real emotions at all: we simply have feelings and as people say, our feelings are just feelings! To know Jesus is to know love truly defined and lived out…to lay down one’s life for a friend…even an enemy, as we were in our sin!

I used to think I was a somebody back in the day. Now, I realize I’m JUST A NOBODY…trying to tell anybody….about somebody who can save (and love) everybody! I by myself am JUST A NOBODY. With the love of Christ living within me and showing in the fruit of my living, I reflect His love and His personality. I am defined by God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and perfected daily by His Spirit living within me! This shell of a body is useless now. It’s not me, but Christ Who lives through me! I want to make Him proud! I want to love well!