Matthew 22:39, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself”; as read from Leviticus 19:18, “… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
How do we love ourselves? i don’t mean a twisted perception of self-appreciation, thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, or being arrogant and proud, acting out all sorts of self centered-ness, but to those who think they are dogs or even less. That verse doesn’t read “you shall loathe your neighbor as your loathe yourself”, but “love your neighbor as yourself”. It appears to me, for much of my life, i’ve loathed myself instead of loved myself, beating myself long after God and others had forgiven me.
Did Jesus die enough for you?
Did Jesus suffer enough for you?
Did Jesus bleed enough for you?
If He did, then take it all to the next step …
Did He die enough for your neighbor?
Did He suffer enough for your neighbor?
Did He bleed enough for your neighbor?
If He did, then… you’ve got to let go of the burdens of your heart.
Who is it which keeps reminding us of all the things we ever did, or of all the things our neighbor did? It seems that for many, no matter how many times we confess to God our sins, we just can’t quite seem to find the washing of our conscience we so desperately need.
And who is it who continues holding up to our faces all our faults or our neighbors faults, long after God has tread the faults under and called them washed away? For us to keep bleeding about the past is to say…the sacrifice on Calvary made by the Son of God was insufficient. It is to say God can forgive others but He can’t quite reach me, and hell whispers through the cracks in the windows and doors of our hearts and says we MUST “PAY MORE”. For us to keep others bleeding long after the Lord has forgiven them, isn’t that not only calling the blood shed by Jesus insufficient, but worse putting ourselves in a god-position? “PAY MORE.” We who keep others bleeding, saying WE will decide when they have bled enough….i mean it was truly bad the other person did something terrible, but i believe it’s even worse when we point it out and stand over them, telling them to bleed until we are satisfied. “PAY MORE.” In Genesis 9 it was bad that Noah was naked and drunk, but it was worse that Ham pointed it out.
Did Jesus die enough, suffer enough, bleed enough for you? How about your neighbor? If He did, then let what constrains you go, open your hands and let it go.