Love Self for God’s Sake

March 27, 2015

Love Self for God’s Sake

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

Hebrews 10:19-22

For much of my past, the hardest question for me to answer was, “What do you want?” When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas or for my birthday I was stuck for an answer. Even something as simple as “Where do you want to go for dinner?” could cause me to stammer and stutter and then mumble, “I don’t know, where do you want to go?” The baggage in my life made it very difficult for me to be assertive and tell someone what I wanted or needed. Over and against this broken way of living, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews says we can come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19)

Some people are not particularly challenged by that assertion. Some people are raised in healthy, nurturing environments and are not reluctant to seek grace and mercy at God’s throne. Others, however, are more naturally inclined to be like the beggar Lazarus and hope a scrap of food may fall their way. (Luke 16:19-20) I believe with every fiber in my being that Abba’s heart breaks for His children who are not able to receive and embrace His liberating love.

One of the great spiritual leaders in the history of the church, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote of God’s liberating love in his book, On Loving God. In the book, Bernard describes four successive stages in our journey seeking the life in Christ as our way of life. Stage One: Love Self for Self’s Sake; Stage Two: Love God for Self’s Sake; Stage Three: Love God for God’s Sake; Stage Four: Love Self for God’s Sake. In this last stage we are accepting and embracing our true identity as the beloved child of God, with whom He is delighted and upon whom His favor rests.

The writer of Hebrews summarized this fourth stage in Hebrews 10:22, “Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Our “sincere heart” is a reference to Ezekiel and Jeremiah’s promise of a new heart when we come to God through faith in Jesus. “Fully trusting” God is a reference to the wonderful assurance our faith gives us that we are God’s beloved children. “Made us clean” is a reference to God fully forgiving us of our sins. “Washed with pure water” is a reference to our baptism. Put all those together and we get to go running into God’s throne room, with hearts overflowing with gratitude as we rest in God’s unfailing love for us.

All of this is God’s doing; we have no bragging rights. Maybe you know this and are already resting in God’s smile of affection for you. If not, pray Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” If you are already resting in God’s love, I’ll bet you know someone who is not. Be a friend, make a friend and lead your friend to 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.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also 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 is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

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

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.