Continuing on from previous post …

… for you have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable through the living and enduring word of God….. therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. I Peter 1:23, 2:1-3

We must rid ourselves of these types of heart thoughts (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander)! And instead crave spiritual milk: Desire Him and His Spirit. Desire to know Him better through His Word. Desire to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds“. Desire to be pure and true like Him. Desire to give Him the honor He deserves… more than we desire honor for ourselves that we don’t deserve. Desire what HE says is best more than what’s easy or what feels best.

And if we simply do not have any of these desires – we must earnestly confess it and pray for Him to give us the hunger and desire for Him and His ways.

Ultimately, we lose sight of Christ when we are trying to receive from others what we are only meant to receive from the Lord. That is really at the root of it all. Because when we are nourished by Him, we have more than enough love to share. When we are malnourished, we start to look in the wrong places for our needs to be met… and we start putting expectations on others and we can get all kinds of tangled. How incredible that it’s only when our hearts are at rest in HIS love, can we truly love others with a pure, unselfish love.

….now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

He is SO good. His goodness will always be good enough, every day. When others are not, He is. We can not summon up genuine love for others. That would be trying to be good in ourselves. Instead, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit we receive when we are dependent on Him and focused on HIS love for us and those around us. When we are FILLED with His goodness and filled with pure spiritual milk from His Word, it truly does flow through.

So which siblings in Christ are hardest to love right now? There’s the opportunity to honor Jesus, grow in Christlikeness, and sow good seeds in the Spirit instead of the flesh.

This all reminds me of Paul’s words in Galatians as well:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:7-10

Lord Jesus, help me love others for you. Help me go after the heart thoughts! Renew my mind in your Word. Help me crave pure, spiritual milk and not impure milk of this world. I recognize that I want to sow in the Spirit and that the little seeds of the heart is where it ALL starts. Help me do the work to have un-hypocritical, pure love from a pure heart. Help the outside always match up with the inside and convict me quickly when it doesn’t and the heart mutterings start and I’m growing weary. Help me run to you quickly and be reminded of your love and mercy and longsuffering. Your patience with ME is so humbling. So keep me in that humble place of your undeserved love. People will always disappoint us, we will disappoint us, but YOUR love is enough. Help me sow lots of spiritual good by REMAINING in you. Resting Every Moment Ading IN your love. Picturing you right there with me being honored by my desire to put the self 2nd, honor others undeservedly like you do, and do it ALL for you. Ultimately, help me treasure YOU above all else and recognize that YOU are what I need so I can stop trying to be fulfilled by other people. Help me see my siblings in Christ through the lens of the blood of Jesus. For your glory and honor, Jesus!