LOVE GOD FEAR NOTHING’S 1.1 Million-strong global tribe has committed to REJECT THE WORLD this month, but our media-driven and comparison-crazy society is making it tough! The world wants us to give up on this spiritual imperative—what must be done—and, instead, chase EVERYTHING. Have EVERYTHING. Be EVERYTHING. Yes, even in the middle of a global pandemic. Heck, maybe especially in a global pandemic.
We all hear and see the pervasive pitch every day on screens that light up in our pocket or purse. Pitches that serenade our soul in search of a crack of vulnerability that would have us succumb to the lie that we should—no, must—have EVERYTHING.
With that beckoning backdrop, it is hardly a surprise that Christians can want to have an “EVERYTHING FAITH.”
You know, a faith full of the world trappings of material success and comfort; but dressed up in superficial Christian cues like memorizing the Bible and serving people in need. Of course those are good things, but not if they come from a disingenuous heart.
But the most concerning part of striving to live an EVERYTHING FAITH is the absence of one word that should ride the top of everyone’s “faith list.” That word is LOVE. And it’s often overlooked or omitted in favor of making sure everything else on the everything list is achieved.
The road to everything starts and ends with love. Love for God. Love for others.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
Maybe you have met someone who is crafting an “everything faith” but seems to live with love conspicuously absent. I have. If you have, too, that’s God reminding us to run from any thought of being an “everything” Christian.
“Human desires are like the world of the dead—there is always room for more.” Proverbs 27:20
I ask God to strengthen my faith to choose HIM over ME and my lust for EVERYTHING. To fill me with his contentment and joy and wisdom. To help me to always start with love, stay with love, and end everything with love on my faith journey. To guide me toward developing an ever-deeper and intimate connection with him.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you have an “everything faith” list?
“I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned—but if I have no love, this does me no good.” 1 Corinthians 13:3
