The Author and Perfecter of My Life

Monday, June 10, 2013              Hebrews 12: 1-2

The Author and Perfecter of My Life

I believe that until we know who we are in Christ, it is impossible to love. All we can do is take. We have seemly insatiable appetites for feelings of love, acceptance and self-worth, and we strive to meet these needs through performance-based-acceptance, and by sucking love out of others. However, when we embrace God’s love for us, we are liberated to truly love others with an unconditional, self-sacrificing love. “We love each other because he loved us first” (1 John 4:19).

What is the bedrock foundation of the Christian faith? “God is love” (1 John 4:8). God expressed His love by giving “his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). These are the twin foundations of my life: God is love and God expressed His love by giving Jesus for me. All of my theological and doctrinal beliefs flow from this foundation. When I think of God, I think about God giving me His love in Christ. I always begin and end my thinking, my processing of the Christian faith from this perspective. Never, what can I do for Christ? Always, what has Christ done for me! Seeking the life in Christ as my way of life is seeking to live my life empowered by the God of love who gave His love to me in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes, we are tempted to live life in terms of what we can give God. Is there anything I could ever give God that doesn’t pale in comparison to His gift of new life in Christ Jesus? Yes. I can accept God’s gift of love and then live my life as authentically as Christ lived his. Can you see how this all comes together? Living your life based on the truth of God’s self-sacrificing love for you in Christ Jesus is what the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he encouraged us to always keep our eyes on Jesus who gave us our faith and who will perfect our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

It may be helpful for you to keep a diary of love for a couple of days. In your diary, record every act of love, every gift you give. Don’t limit your diary to material gifts. Remember to include your gift of giving time to others by being present, by listening, by participating in a conversation with them. I know, this will include pretty much every interaction you have during the day. Next to each entry record your motivation. Why did you give yourself? I suspect you may be surprised how often you were driven by guilt or your motivation was reciprocal: if I do this, then they will do something for me. The reality of our culture is that we are most often motivated by what we have to do, rather than what we get to do. It has been my experience that the more I keep my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my life, the more I am mindful of all I get to do because of my new life in Christ.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.