love god, love people.

love God, love people. today this phrase has finally set a new standard for me. in the past eleven months, i've heard this phrase more than the stars that line the sky.

okay that was a lie, but i did hear it a lot. i was listening to a sermon today and this phrase was said again. as it repeated in my head a few times, it really settled in. for the past nine months, i was a part of rockford master's commission. and these next few points are some of the things we were taught throughout that period. it wasn't until just now that some of them finally settled in. i don't know about you, but my tendency when i hear something repeated over, and over, and over, and over again, i tune it out. i'm sick of hearing it, and finally just close my ears to it.

throughout the past year, i could not figure out why i wasn't happy. why i felt depressed, and why i could seem to crawl out of the pit, or break down the walls that surrounded me. the truth was, i was hearing with my ears what was being said through my time at master's. but i wasn't hearing with my heart. there is a significant difference. i was looking at the people saying the words, and judging what they said based on the hypocrisy in their lives. there are many things wrong with that. one being i was judging them hardcore. and secondly, people say things, its true. but usually, God knows what you need to hear, and he uses people to make you hear it. through my whole life i put people on this pedestal. one that i wasn't even willing to stand on. when the screwed up, i was sure to catch them, and from that point, i would tune anything they said to me out. they weren't worth my time. because in my mind, why should i listen to someone, who didn't even follow what they themselves said.

but today, i looked at my own self. how many times to i tell my family something? and then do the opposite thing two seconds later. i have no room to judge the people around me. i say that i strive to serve God. to serve his people, which is a real passion in my heart. but i question how true this statement is, based on my actions. realizing i am no different than the people i turned my heart off to is mind shattering. today i realized how much i need to change.

realizing this, i started thinking about how to go about "being holy." how to have that real, authentic relationship with God. previously to today, i had a relationship with God, but i am missing the real, authentic part. i tuned back into the sermon i was previously listening to, and listened to the speaker say, that when the pharisees asked jesus what the most important law was, He told them to love God with all their hearts, minds, and souls. and secondly, which is equal to the first, is to love His people. (J. Deweert, RFA) so today, my journey is to firstly, love God, and figuring out how to really love him with all my heart, and mind, and soul. then the love people part will come into play.

loving people must come after loving yourself, which comes after loving God. you cannot love yourself if you don't see how God lives in you, and see yourself through his eyes. this is truth. this is why the bible says you must keep your focus on God. make Him the center of your life. once you do that, everything else will fall into place. Love God. once you love God, you can love yourself, once you love yourself, you can love others. it makes sense. everything falls into line when He comes first. see, you have to choose to put Him there, in first place. He should be the first in your heart. choose to let Him enter. Love Him, and see where He will take you.