The Lens

Our speech is so important.  Even the tiniest of words can be the difference in our ability to understand something correctly.  In my experience, I have seen this in Christianity a ton.  To be honest, I have suffered much misunderstanding due to half truths (or half understood truths) that have been implied or stated in the church.  I can only imagine how much of these half truths I have spread.  That is one reason we must always test what is said against the Bible, and grow in our knowledge of the Word, that when something is said that is not fully formed or understood, a red flag flies up in our minds.  There is a statement I have heard stated and implied throughout my Christian life, and that is that God is the only important thing.  All else is rubbish... our relationships, creation, everything.  For years I held to this only to find myself miserable as I tried to conform my heart to this idea.  It was awful.  It was untrue.  One word can change that entire sentence.  God is not the ONLY important thing, He is the ULTIMATE important thing, the sum total of all importance.    All else IS nothing... WITHOUT THE REDEMPTION OF THE LORD!   With the second two sentences we see things totally different.  Things are important, very, very much so, though they are so only BECAUSE of Christ.  For years I struggled to allow my heart to find value in human relationships, as I was constantly being told that all of that would only lead to disappointment.  And without God as the ultimate, they are right.  Yet, with Him as the ultimate, my perspective is different.  I no longer look for ULTIMATE satisfaction in others in themselves.  I look to Christ.  Yet, God gave us the need for others to bring us closer to Him.  Almost every command about loving God is completed through loving other humans.  It is my experience that, the closest I have felt to God was through loving others with Him as the ultimate.  We become like lenses to one another, each magnifying Christ for the other.  The more someone magnifies Christ for the other, the more satisfied our hearts will be.  How amazing is it to know that our relationships with others don't have to ultimately disappoint, if they are founded in the Father?  Moments of dismay will come and go as we battle our old nature, but if both are focused on Christ as ultimate, then the intimacy and satisfaction between two people is endless... just like the love and wonder of the Father!!!