What Did Jesus Say Being a Christian doesnt seem to mean the same thing it used to.

There is a certain stigma on the name of Christianity that yells out with a bright neon sign that its an institution of hypocrisy and narrow-minded supremacists. This stereotype obviously describes some percentage of the Christian population otherwise it would not exist. I live in a generation that looks down on the topic of Jesus and gets uncomfortable around the subject of church when it enters into a casual conversation. More and more it seems like my peers are trying to steer clear of religious institutions for one reason or another. The reasons are not uncommon among the majority of the people I have talked to. Living on a college campus has given me many opportunities to engage with people of varying ages about the opposition to Christianity. One of the biggest complaints against Christians is that we are hypocrites. We are widely accused of saying one thing while doing another. To be completely honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that this is true. They see us trying to spread the message of Jesus and witness to others how much Jesus can do for them in their lives, yet we walk away with plugs in our ears not living the message. They see us talk the talk and not walk the walk. Before we let ourselves get defensive we need to accept that there are plenty of people who claim to be Christian and do this very thing. The songs of worship are sung on Sunday morning and it all doesnt mean a thing by Monday night. And its because their day-to-day lives dont reflect Jesus. We all have tried to send a message while failing to listen to it ourselves. It is within human nature to mess up; to fall short of the standard placed before us. What is meant to be different is the part of Jesus in our lives. He guides us with wisdom given to us through the four gospels. We have no excuse to justify our wrong actions or immoral treatment of each other. We cant blame it on ignorance or that we didnt know any better. Jesus spelled it out for us almost two thousand years ago. The only thing we can say is that were human and were going to trip and fall sometimes. Then we take a second look at what Jesus tried to teach us. After a long list of teachings over various topics in the book of Matthew, Jesus concludes one lesson with a line that sounds like mission impossible. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48). What is our excuse now? We are human, we rebel, and we are imperfect beings. Yet Jesus comes out and says, be perfect. Did he mean to give us an impossible task? Was he just joking around? Or was it another hard lesson learned not only for his disciples but also for anyone who would come to follow Jesus for centuries to come? I believe it is a standard set before us to not fall short of. In the gospel of John, it is written He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:2) So Jesus was there when Adam and Eve rebelled against God. He was there when God flooded the world to rid it of its corruption. He was there when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire for their immorality. Jesus witnessed generation after generation trip and fall and not live up to Gods expectations. Even the Israelites who were brought up out of Egypt and witnessed themselves the power of God did not trust in him with their lives. So how then, after seeing all of these shortcomings of mankind, could Jesus ask this of us? I think it is because we are justified. When Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins, we were reunited with God. In the beginning, God made Adam and Eve. He warned them that if they ate of the fruit of knowledge they would surely die. They ate of the fruit and they did not fall over cold and dead. But they were banished from the garden and since that day, mankind has been spiritually dead to God, until Jesus came.

Jesus filled the gap between God and us. He gave his life as the last sacrifice of an unblemished lamb to pay for all the debts of every man, woman, and child for the rest of eternity. The apostle Paul, in a letter to the church in Rome, clarified this exact idea. Paul writes that Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.(Romans 4:25-5:1). So now, in Gods eyes, were okay. This is the only way through which it could be possible for us to even attempt perfection. We are tattered and tarnished people. Jesus spilled his blood to cleanse us of our imperfections. This is the greatest opportunity we have ever been given to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. The greatest way we can give glory to God and at the same time soften critics hearts towards Christianity is to live life in a way that is aspiring to be perfect, as Jesus wants us to be. Every day people face a multitude of decisions from the most innocuous to the most monumental. Usually a certain phrase comes to mind when people are faced with bigger choices in their lives. What would Jesus do? Jesus would do the right thing. He would say the perfect words. He would live up to the expectations of his heavenly Father every time. We can stipulate over what action we think that would be; what words we think he would say; and maybe even play with what exactly Gods standard is. Whats important is that we do the best that we can in every situation every day. With the blood of Jesus justifying our lives and paying for our sins, our best is just good enough for God. In order to accomplish this, its crucial to get a grasp on exactly what Jesus taught about life and how to face the difficulties of life. So next time youre faced with a problem, it may be better to ask what did Jesus say? rath er than what would Jesus do? Forgiveness, faith, hope, and love are topics that fill the Bible from beginning to end. It is these four topics that I believe Jesus taught some of the hardest lessons over. Maybe if we can take a look back at what Jesus said about forgiveness, faith, hope, and love, we can live our everyday lives a little more true to his word. Forgiveness One of the hardest things to do to someone who has truly wronged you is to forgive them. Say your child is kidnapped and after years of searching, the kidnapper is finally found but the child has already been murdered. How could it possibly be asked of you to forgive the kidnapper? This is exactly the kind of near impossible task that Jesus asks of us. When I was in the 8th grade my English teacher assigned us a paper on the topic of forgiveness. We were to write about why forgiveness is so important and to support our opinion with evidence from our personal experiences. A book that we read in class prompted this paper. The books main theme was the importance of forgiveness and how difficult it may be to give it. In the book a Nazi soldier lies dying on a hospital bed for weeks. A Jewish boy comes across the soldier and begins conversing with him. The soldier confesses to all the heinous crimes he committed while in the war and tells the boy of how many innocent Jews he executed. He then turns to the boy and with his dying breath asks for forgiveness. The boy, feeling like he had no right to give forgiveness in place of all the people the soldier murdered, refused. After we turned in all our papers my class sat down in a circle to have a discussion over the theme of forgiveness. I waited patiently, listening to all of my peers give their responses. I felt like there was a scratch in the record and it just kept skipping over and over again with little variation. Each student gave the same reply with the same outline, varying a pronoun here and a

verb there. The basic idea was that forgiveness is important because it lets you move on and forget about it. Finally, the teacher came to me and asked why I think forgiveness is so important. I dont think anyone quite expected my response. My response wiped the grin off my teachers face within the first sentence. My first sentence probably went something like, Forgiveness is not important and totally pointless. I had no interest in even entertaining the idea of forgiveness. My teacher, trying to remain objective, would lend such points as it allowing both parties to move on. I would retort with the obvious fact that neither party actually forgets about it. They both remember the wrongdoing whether they grant forgiveness or not. I specifically remember saying that I thought it was stupid for someone to ask for forgiveness after hurting someone. They made the conscious decision to inflict pain, were successful, and now intend to take it back with saying sorry. I also remember saying that if someone committed a murder, they dont deserve forgiveness. They messed up and should live with the consequences. To me, the consequences didnt include forgiveness. This, in no way, is a case against forgiveness. This is a representation of ignorance and also of growth. In 8th grade I considered myself a Christian. If someone asked me if I believed in God, I would have replied yes without hesitation. In retrospect I dont think my 8th grade self was lying. I did believe in God. I did believe in Jesus. But I obviously did not place much trust in him. To trust in Jesus is to know that all that he does and teaches us to do is good and holy. We are to follow the example he has set for us. After Jesus took time to wash each one of his disciples feet he rose and said, I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.(John 13:15). When Jesus said this he was referring to the act of being a servant to all people. I believe that this can be directly applied to his example of forgiveness as well. Ive been in some relationships where I wasnt treated very well. In some of them I didnt even know who I was anymore. I didnt feel like myself and couldnt figure out what would make me happy again. They were taking something out of me that I wasnt able to get back while I was with them. They hurt me deeply. When those relationships didnt work out, we would go our separate ways. Back then, the last thing I wanted to do was forgive them, even if it was to myself and in my own heart. I wanted to be mean and make them feel bad for hurting me. Some of my best friends have said things and done things that really hurt. They are my closest friends and are also the ones who can inflict the deepest cut. My parents have hurt me. There have been times that I expressed an idea or shared an experience and instead of an embracing response I got one of rebuking. I used to be the type that would hoard over these hurts and bottle them up inside of myself. In the absence of focus my mind would randomly jump back to relive a specific time I was hurt and my blood would start boiling all over again. It was a cycle until finally I would throw out a one-line remark that voiced my built up frustration that had never been resolved. Over my journey of trying to follow Jesus closer and closer I have learned the true power of forgiveness. Thinking back to the paper I wrote in 8th grade, I realized something. I seemed to think that if you forgave someone that it was like letting them off the hook and you were expected to move on as if nothing had ever happened. Ive come to believe something completely different now. Forgiveness relinquishes your desire to serve justice to the one who wronged you. Whether it was something as small as an insult or something as big as a murder. Forgiving the debtor removes the burden from your heart and transfers it to Gods hands. People often say, just put it in Gods hands. It sounds nice and seems comforting but unless you truly believe it, its just another clich. I also used to think that if you forgave someone, you had to tell them to their face. This also is untrue. In my personal experience, it is more powerful to forgive while in prayer,

where it is completely between God and me. Jesus taught to his disciples a prayer. In this prayer, the forgiveness given to those who trespassed against them was told to God and not to the actual trespasser. Ultimately, I am incapable of administering fair justice and therefore it is futile to hold within me frustrations against someone who did wrong against me. I give up my burden of the grudge against my debtors and transfer all of their debts from my account to Gods. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.(Matthew 6:14). The power of forgiveness lies within being right with your heavenly Father and treating your debtors as God treats you when you rebel against him. Peter, one of the closest disciples to Jesus, was also questioning these teachings on forgiveness. He asked Jesus, What if my brother keeps sinning against me? It makes sense for me to forgive him a couple of times but you would think he would learn after awhile. So should I forgive him two times? Maybe three? Seven at the most though, right? On the contrary Jesus replied, I tell you not seven times, but seventy times seven.(Matthew 18:22). Jesus then continues to tell Peter a story. Its a story of a master and his servant. The servant owes his master some money but cannot pay it in full on the given day that the master requests it of him. But the master is merciful and pardons the servant, clearing him from the debt he owed. The servant then goes off to find all those who owe him money and collect it from them with haste. The servant came along a man who owed him money and when the man could not pay him, the servant had him thrown in jail. When his master heard of this he was outraged. The master called his servant to him and said, Shouldnt you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?(Matthew 18:33) If we place ourselves in the position of the servant and God is our master, what kind of picture does it paint? Our God forgives us of every sin we commit in rebellion against him, yet we turn to each other and hold grudges. Jesus points at us and says, be perfect. Our master has forgiven us well beyond our worth and in this same way we should readily offer forgiveness to those who wrong us whether it is asked of us or not. We should grant forgiveness because of the simple truth that God has shown us the same mercy. Sometimes we may think that it is too hard to forgive another even if it is only within our own hearts. Let this thought humble your pride. Jesus was flogged thirty-nine times before being forced to attempt to carry his cross up to Calvary. He was thin nailed to the cross through both feet and both wrists causing a pain from which the word excruciating was invented. As he hung there on the cross, trying to support his body weight on his legs to allow himself to breathe, he spoke to his heavenly Father these words. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.(Luke 23:34). The humility with which Jesus looked down upon his murderers and forgave them is the kind of example that we are supposed to be able to follow. Peter went on after the resurrection of Jesus to preach the gospel throughout Macedonia to all the Jews. He, one of the first saints, struggled with the idea of limitless forgiveness. If we also struggle, but persist to follow Jesus closely, I believe we are in good company. Faith Faith is one of those qualities of spirituality and religion alike that can mean something very different from person to person. One person may relate faith to knowing that everything is going to be okay in the end. One person may relate it to the idea that everything happens for a reason. While another thinks of faith as just a mere feeling that there is a higher being looking out for us. Whatever the feeling over faith may be, there is one incredible link. Faith is the foundation for any belief held by people. An atheist holds confidence in his belief in the theory

of evolution and discredits the idea of there being a God based on faith. A Christian believes in Jesus Christ as being the savior of the world and the son of the one and only God based on faith. Faith is a keystone of any belief. Plenty of discussions are hashed out over the question of Gods existence between people of varying beliefs all the time. I have talked with many atheists and some people who just have questions over this extremely important topic. It usually becomes an exchange of evidential support. They explain the scientific evidence claiming the theory of evolution and multiple other theories such as the Big Bang. I give my historical and archaeological evidence that supports the credibility of the Bible and the existence of Jesus. At the end of the argument it all comes down to faith. Neither of us can lend enough support for our side to convince the other. We have confidence in our own argument because of the faith that we have in it. Depending on the person you ask, the idea or theory or religion they put their faith in changes substantially. If you find a group of people that have faith in a common idea, then youre most likely to find even further differences of what their faith means to them and why it is important to them. What does faith mean to Christians? We are made up of the same human nature as anyone else and therefore have a wide range of views on what our faith means to us. So the more crucial question is, what does faith mean to Jesus? A letter written to a group of Hebrews focused specifically on the reasons why the Christian community could continue to put there faith and confidence in the works of Jesus Christ and his disciples that continued to work through the land after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The author of this letter and the exact group of Jesus-followers that it was written to is unknown. In my personal life, I have found strong reassurance in the faith that I have in Jesus from the testimonies of this letter. Hebrews 11:1 explains a common idea of faith that could most likely be agreed upon by anyone who holds a strong faith in almost anything. It states, now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. No matter how much evidence and support we may have for believing in Jesus, the one thing that matters is that we have a true faith in Jesus and the way he wanted us to live out our lives. Life comes at us full force everyday and many times we are pushed into situations that overwhelm us and make us feel at odds with the rest of the world. Some things seem to be absolutely impossible. There are plenty of things in life that are impossible. Some tasks that are set before us are not within the human capability to accomplish. But this is something that did not trouble Jesus. He told his disciples that some things they would not be able to do in and of themselves. Jesus looked at them and said, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.(Matthew 19:26). With this idea of faith in Jesus, we can know going into any situation faced in life that all things are possible with God by our side. This isnt to say that if you really believe that you can run off a rooftop and fly that it will be so; but it is saying that all of lifes tests can be faced with confidence as long as we keep God close to our side. Peter always seems to be the bearer of the tough love from Jesus. Peter wants so dearly to understand the glory of Jesus and all the wisdom held within his teachings and therefore is the one to be tested the most. It seems consistent that those who desire to be closest to their savior are those who will be tested the hardest. Jesus sent the disciples in a boat to cross to the other side of the sea while he parted with five thousand people he just managed to feed with only five loaves of bread and two fish. The twelve set off from the shore and had journeyed a ways into the sea, they saw what appeared to be a ghost walking towards them across the water and shouted in fear. To their amazement they hear Jesus calling out, Hey, guys calm down! Its just me. Then

Peter decided to test the waters. He replied, Prove it! If its really you then Ill be able to walk out on the water too. And Jesus invited him out to join him. Can you imagine the kind of faith that Peter put in his mentor to swing his legs over the port side of the boat, hop out on the surface of the water, and take a few steps out to meet Jesus on the sea? As strong as his faith was for the instance of pure child like confidence in the words of his father, Peters trust was suddenly shaken by a gust of wind that he feared would topple him over. Instantly, as soon as his faith began to bear doubt in the power of God, Peter found himself quickly sinking into the water, calling out for the hand of Jesus to save him. I feel like there is not one person who is trying their best to follow Jesus that hasnt felt like Peter did. Sometimes we are up against the impossible and every logical thought in our head says we cant do it. We cant finish this project on time. We cant help that person at work. We cant make a difference to someone this year. But instead of listening to that voice we decide to listen to a phrase that suggests that with God we can do just about anything. We swing one leg at a time over the side of our boat. The water looks about as firm as concrete so we hop on down. It catches our weight and we start walking. Then for some reason or another the wind kicks up. Something happens that makes us doubt the faith that we had so confidently put in God previously. The water starts to wet our ankles, then our knees, and before we know it were waist deep simply because doubt crept in and corrupted faith. The point of this story is a little ambiguous. It would be extraordinary if a story taught by or told about Jesus was actually clear cut and easy to interpret. Some may say that this story is simply a story. There is nothing more than a man who tried to walk on water and when he started to doubt, he sank. It almost makes it sound like the theme of the story is that if you lose faith or let yourself doubt in Jesus, that youre going to fail and fall beneath the surface until youre in over your head. I by no means wish to sugar coat this story to make it sound more optimistic than it is, but I believe there is more light at the end of the tunnel. A man decided to put his faith so strongly in God that he ventured out to walk on water as God did. He succeeded for a time to do so before beginning to sink at the first sign of doubt. Sadly, this is human nature. Our hearts are just as easily susceptible to faith as they are to doubt. We will fall into doubt. We will question our faith. And we will trip and fall face first into the water plenty of times in our lives. Peter was caught off guard by adversity and was caused to doubt, when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me!(Matthew 14:30). But the most incredible part of the story is the very next verse after Peter realizes his peril and calls to Christ for help. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.(Matthew 14:31a) It doesnt say then after a few minutes while Jesus gave Peter some time to learn his lesson. It says, Immediately. Peter called out for help in his time of need and immediately Jesus was there to offer his hand. I believe that this is the kind of faith that is most important to Jesus. It is not the faith that allowed Peter to have confidence enough to walk on water, but the kind of faith that gave Peter confidence that Jesus was the only one who was capable of saving him and bringing him back to safety. It is with this kind of faith that a woman merely touched the robe of Jesus, because she knew in her heart that if she were even allowed to touch the garments that he wore she would instantly be healed. This kind of faith is that which the centurion had when he asked Jesus to heal his servant. The centurion saw himself unfit to have Jesus under his roof but had faith enough that if Jesus just said the word from where he stood that the centurions servant would be healed. This faith is what the blind man on the side of the road had as he called out to the Jesus of Nazareth to heal his eyes. These people held within them a confidence in their faith in the power

of Jesus to be their healer and savior. It isnt because they never tripped and fell themselves. They found themselves in their current conditions weak, tattered, and fragile. Yet they allowed themselves to be humbled by their condition and take on faith like a child that delivered them to God. With this faith, Jesus told his disciples that the most amazing feats would be possible. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.(Mark 11:23). Can you imagine all the things you could do in your everyday life if you could truly live by this principle? The chores of the day and all the rush of getting everything done would seem to be trivial after you let your heart adapt the kind of faith Jesus spoke of. Every mountain starts as a grain of sand and a piece of dirt. Put a confidence in faith that would be able to cast aside a grain of sand and let it grow as it is only a mustard seed and before long it would be capable to move mountains. Let faith in Jesus seep into the tiniest parts of the day and you just might start seeing tiny miracles unfold. Hope Hope is a difficult thing to explain. It can be so closely related to faith in a way. We hope things will turn out for the best just as we have faith that they always will. We hope people can change for the best and also have faith in them that they can. We hope for tomorrow just as we have faith that the sun will rise again. But there is a difference. In the way that I interpret hope and faith, there is a monumental difference between the two. Faith is held within God and his power to act in our lives. It is what we put so much confidence in and why we trust so deeply in Jesus as our lord and savior. But I think hope is reserved for each other. I believe hope rests in our lives with each other and the experiences we share. The world is projected through every medium imaginable. Television broadcasts sitcoms, reality shows, and commercials that bring the world to the viewer through whatever lens they desire. Peers influence each other to see the world around them in certain ways and experience life in whichever way is most impactful to their crowd. The way we see the world around us is inevitably how we fill our body to react to the world. Surround yourself with Bob Marley music and sun-brewed sweet tea for a week and see how relaxed and mellow your world becomes. It is still the exact same world in which your business-enthralled neighbor resides in. The difference is with what you fill your lives with. Jesus taught to keep your eyes on heaven. He told his disciples to invest more in their treasures stored in heaven than in their treasure on earth. I think Jesus meant to get his twelve to stop focusing and worrying so much about the tedious stresses of life and to put their attentiveness in the lessons of love and forgiveness that he had to teach. He taught, The eye is the lamp of the body. If youre eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.(Matthew 6:22 -23). Through whichever eyes you perceive the world is the perspective that the world will fill your body. Look at the world as dark and dreary and this is the substance that will overrun your body. You will feel dark and dreary just as you see the world around you. But look at the world as optimistic opportunity and joy, and then your body will gleam with light as you too will be joyful in the world around you. I see this as having hope for your life and what can be offered to you through living it. Everyday life can be troublesome, even through rose-colored glasses, and with the faith of a child. Every once a while a gust of wind will cause us to lose heart and sink into the sea. But

this is a time that faith reaches out for a hand to grab onto and hope keeps us looking for the sun to dry our bones and a place to lay our heads. I have hope in the promise that as long as I keep faith in Jesus, he will give me a place to rest. As Jesus said, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.(Matthew 11:28). I tend to relate hope to the idea of earthly reassurance. I relate it to the idea that the rewards of my faith are what I hope for. I hope for everything to be okay tomorrow. I read my bible and say my prayers and have faith in the words Ive read and the prayers Ive said. The outcome that I wish to see arrive out of my prayers is where my hope is. Jesus taught to his twelve a lesson of not worrying. I feel like it was a lesson to have hope in the fruits of their faith. Jesus told them to look at the birds of the sky. No one feeds them or takes them into their home to take care of them yet they find food and shelter as God provides for them. Then he turned their eyes to the flowers of the gardens. No one gives them cloak or tunic to keep them warm yet they are adorned with the most beautiful petals that not even royalty can match in their splendor. He then gives his disciples the warmest reassurance as he tells them that they are Gods most treasured creations and have no need to worry. God will provide for their livelihood. This is an enthusiastic message of hope. Jesus is saying, Hey! Look around you! Creatures and plants fractions of your worth are taken care of sufficiently. Have hope in how God will take care of you. And he reminds them, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.(Matthew 6:34). People go through rough times in their lives everyday and have suffered pains that have hindered them for the rest of their lives. Congregations of the homeless meet under highway overpasses just to share in the fellowship of Christ. Over comers from drug addictions, alcoholism, and grief meet in a room of a church to worship the God that saved them from themselves. This is a kind of hope in the love of Christ that is inspiring. And the hope that drives me further is the fact that Jesus has been there. Jesus experienced every painful memory that each one of his children has ever had when he died on the cross for us. He has been there. A homeless drug addict has to force himself to go the McDonalds instead of to a dealer to feed his starving stomach instead of his raging addiction. Jesus has been there. A single mother has to work full time while trying to raise her son. Jesus has been there. A family suffers the grief of losing their daughter after a drunk driver hit her car. Jesus has been there. A friend accidentally kills his best friend in a motor accident. Jesus has been there. The hope and reassurance in the God who became man and died for you is to overpowering to realize. All you have to do is look and youll find him. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.(Matthew 7:8). Now that is a promise worth hoping for. Hope is the name of a church I attend in Las Vegas. It seems like one of the most suitable names for a church. The church is filled with faith in Jesus Christ and all the power he has in our lives and the world around us. We all follow our faith to sing songs of worship to him and nod along with the pastors sermon. But hope is what we take out into the world with us as we walk out the doors. Hope is what follows our faith after we say amen at the closing prayer of the service. I put my faith in Jesus. I then have hope for what he will do through me out in the rest of the world. Love A thousand books could be written on the topic of love and still the depth of its importance to life would not even be imaginable. Actually, over a thousand books have been

written on the topic of love and we are still found dumbfounded at how fascinating its power is in our lives. Love is such a persuasive force in peoples lives that sometimes youll hear someone say that they dont believe in true love. Some people confess to not believing in love at all. People usually attest to not believing in Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, God, the afterlife, reincarnation, or other such things. But to attest to not believing in true love is like professing that oxygen doesnt exist. It is as evident to exist, as it is that we continue to exist and survive on the air we breathe. If not for love, we would not live. But how exactly are we supposed to love? Everyone has their own unique love language; specific ways through which they best express their love for another. And even more essentially, whom are we supposed to love? Paul the apostle was concerned about a church in Corinth that he and his brothers in Christ had planted during on of their missions. He wrote a letter to them addressing the problems that were rising up amongst them. Groups within the church were beginning to divide against each other claiming that they were followers of either Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or Christ. They stood at odds against each other because of their differing alliances. This deeply troubled Paul, as he knew that there could be no division in Christ. No house divided against its self can stand, as Jesus had taught his disciples while he still was with them. Paul knew this would lead to the fall of the church if its congregation persisted to cause division. Paul reminded them of this lesson and reassured them that their faith must stay true to Christ alone since Jesus is the only one who can offer salvation. It was evident that the church of Corinth had lost its focus on the importance of living by love. Paul intended to remind them. He testified that no matter how great he may be able to speak in tongues to both men and angels, if he did not have love, it would be worth nothing. No matter how many prophecies he could conjure and how many mysteries he could solve, if he had not love, he would be nothing. If he had faith enough to move mountains, but did not possess love he would be nothing. If he gave to the poor and fed the hungry and had no love in his heart, he would not gain a thing. These were all charges that Jesus left with his followers. Jesus told them to prophesize, feed the hungry, help the poor, have faith like a child, and do amazing feats. Now Paul is saying that you can do all of these things, but if it were without love then Jesus would find no pleasure in your good deeds. So what is love? If it is so important to be included in everything that we do in our day to day lives, then it would be helpful to have a good idea of what love is and what love is not. Luckily, Paul provided for us just this kind of list of all the attributes love has and all the things love is not. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love sounds pretty perfect. This kind of love sounds like that kind of love that Jesus lived with. Putting this kind of love into action is what can change the world forever; and it did almost two thousand years ago. God put this kind of love into action when he gave Jesus to the world. Christmas morning is usually envisioned as a scene of shepherds and wise men gathered around a baby in a manger, offering whatever gifts they could afford. They knew that this baby was their God so they gave him gifts to honor him. But have you ever tried to put yourself in that place? Imagine yourself kneeling down to a baby lying in the most humble setting outside in the barn with the animals. This baby has been told to you to be God. You realize that this baby has been brought into the world to live the life that you were never capable of living and would ultimately pay for all your trespasses against God. This baby is going to give you a gift that could never be repaid so all you

can do is humble yourself entirely at the side of his manger and give all the riches you have because you have now been given all that you need. God came down off his throne to become completely human in order to save the world. That is the kind of love Paul is writing about to the church of Corinth. Jesus began his preaching in his early thirties as he traveled from town to town. The lessons he taught were radical in their theology. The Pharisees were absolutely astonished at the nerve Jesus had to actually stand up against them and teach contradictory to what they had been telling the Jews. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, he forgave people with an authority of his own, and he caused a riot clearing out merchants from his temple, and dined with lowly sinners. He bared an image that was anything but the Messiah that the scribes and Pharisees had hoped for. But all the wonderful signs that he did could not be ignored. He healed people with leprosy, cast out demons, and gave sight to those born blind. These mysteries needed an answer and a certain Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus intended to find the answer. After the sun had sunk down and night had crept over the land, Nicodemus sought out this man from Nazareth. He found Jesus and inquired about the miraculous works Jesus had done and admitted that he knew Jesus must have come from God. The response Jesus gave could be described as being thrown out of left field. Jesus made no remark on the accusation that he was from God and had God with him like no other man could. Jesus gave him no bravo, or pat on the back for figuring out that he was the Christ. He merely looked Nicodemus in the eye and told him the key element to finding the kingdom of God. He replied, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Nicodemus is understandably baffled by this retort. How can someone possibly be reborn when they are well aged? It is impossible to enter in the womb again to be born again! Jesus tells him again that the only way is to be reborn. He explains further that in order to be of spirit as God is, you must be born by water and spirit. Nicodemus is still turned around and cant put his mind around what Jesus is trying to tell him. Then Jesus shares with him the greatest treasure that has ever been given this world. He reveals the truth about a love that changed the world forever. The truth is this; God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16). God loved the world so much that he was willing to sacrifice his perfect child to pay for the sins of the world. This might not sound like much. He is God after all. He knew everything would work out in the end and the world would be a better place, didnt he? Ive tried to understand this verse by imagining myself in the position of God. I imagine what it would take for me to sacrifice someone that I loved more than anyone else in this world, for the sake of paying for all the sins of the world. When I imagine myself in this position, I am just as human as I am now. I think to myself, could I watch my big brother be flogged thirty-nine times? Could I watch them nail my big brothers hands and feet to a cross and hang him up? Could I watch my big brother slowly suffocate to death while I stood by helpless? And I would have to do all of this because his death would save all these other people who have had their chance and messed it up? My big brother is a great man and has lived a good life filled with love and I have to watch him die so that some drug-dealer, or rapist, or murderer can be saved and forgiven? I wouldnt be able to stand it. The agony of watching my brother be crucified would be enough to kill me. Yet God had to watch his sinless son be crucified in order to pay for the sins of the world so that all may be forgiven for whatever crimes against God they have committed. So thats how we are supposed to love. We are meant to love intentionally and deliberately. Jesus doesnt say to love out of convenience or comfortably. He actually teaches

quite the opposite. If a man sues you for your tunic you are to give him your cloak as well. Society may say to give to those in need, as much as you can afford. Jesus says go with him for two miles, even if he asks you to go only one. The love with which Jesus loved changed the people who followed him, who listened to him. This love led his disciples to risk their lives to spread the gospel as far and wide as they could. A love like this could not be ignored. But whom are we supposed to love? We all have our co-workers, teammates, or acquaintances that we could do without talking to or being around. These are the people who just rub us wrong. Theyll say a comment and we might whisper a little stinging remark about them or roll our eyes. It is more of a forced customary greeting to have to shake their hand or give them a hug instead of a sign of joyful greeting. Having to treat them with love would be so frustrating because of how inconsiderate and dismissive they have been to you. But, guess what. Jesus doesnt care. He told his followers to love everyone, especially their enemies. Their enemies were the ones persecuting them and insulting them and cursing them. Yet Jesus said, pray for them in return. Love them and show them compassion. If we were to only love the people that loved us, what would make us different from everybody else? Its easy to love someone who treats you with the upmost care and kindness. Its easy to greet someone who respects and admires you. So what difference separates a follower of Christ from one who does not believe? Jesus instructed this of us, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you(Matthew 5:44). Pride is a hard pill to swallow and it is very necessary to get that pill down before we can attempt to love with the passion and power that Jesus did and to share it with absolutely everyone as he did. When Jesus and Nicodemus had their talk, Jesus worded his gift to the world very carefully. He said that God loved the world. Even the idea of the creator of the world and every living and nonliving thing found in it actually loves the world is a phenomenal realization. Then he goes on to say that he gave his one and only son for the world. The Lord our God actually gave up his son for us. That is a love that is unfathomable to the human heart. And then Jesus says that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. He didnt say only the J ews who believed, or the Greek that believed, or the people that have followed all their lives and been good and holy for fifty years. He specifically said whoever! If Jesus Christ saw everyone worthy of his love, who are we to judge who is or isnt worthy of our love? Everyone justly deserves our love just as everyone, through grace, was shown the love of God. This is how all people are equal. We may not have lived equal lives with equal opportunities and equal successes, but we have been justified equally with the promise of eternal life from our savior Jesus Christ. We can have all the faith in the world. It can be what drives us through life and guides our actions. We can have the kind of faith that no doubt can darken. We can have the biggest hope that anyone has ever seen. We can forever have hope in all the promises Jesus made and keep looking up and onward for the next blessing of our life. These things are both great blessings in our lives. But just as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. Without love we are futile, but with love we are the most powerful instruments of God. Life The little things are what matter most. Actions speak louder than words. Love is all you need. Dance like no one is looking. The list of one-line words of wisdom could go on forever.

Everyone seems to have his or her favorite line of inspiration that gives a hint as to how to live a better life. Someone I know has an entire quote book filled with these exact same kinds of lines. This is not some new fad either. The Pharisees new Jesus was a wise man who did many miraculous works and knew extensively about the old laws of Moses. So they decided to ask him a question that they thought would maybe corner him. A Pharisee stepped forward and asked, Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Without hesitation Jesus looked straight into his eyes and spoke with authority, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.(Matthew 22:37-39) Life in Christ is a process. It rarely happens that one day you accept Jesus into your life and the next day you are a holy being that follows right on the heels of God. Its like we are in a car and Jesus is in the car in front of us and gives you a little wave that says, hey, follow me. So you pull in behind him and begin to follow as best you can. There will be times that he takes one route and you feel more comfortable taking a different route and you veer off track for a little while. There may be sometimes where he is so far ahead of you, you feel like you can barely see him. Sometimes the road will look straight and smooth up ahead until he takes a sudden turn and leads onto a road that you least expected. But the point is that youre trying to follow as close as you can. One day you will have followed to closely for so long that before you know it youre in the passenger seat and you notice that Jesus took the wheel. The fruits of our lives are what show the world that we are and what matters most in our lives. I am blessed to be able to say that I have been raised in a family that has for the most part been bearers of good fruit. Jesus taught that, each tree is recognized by its own fruitthe good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart(Luke 6:44a-45a). It is a matter of how we live our every day lives that will show others what is in our hearts. Living with the word of God is a difficult task and is trying everyday. It tests our faith and hope in Jesus. It especially tests our love for God and for one another. By human nature we tend to push for what we may think is best for us. My parents used to always say that they knew what was best for me because they knew me better than anyone else and they had more experience of what the world was all about. God is our heavenly father and we are his children. He knows the deepest secrets we keep locked away in our hearts. He knows everything that is to come. He knows what is best for us and he gave to us his gift of love. This gift of love has come to us through his Holy Spirit and all that is left is for us to create the good fruit of the spirit through the love of Christ in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control(Galatians 5:22). Living with the fruits of this Spirit within us would be living true to Christ. My goal for this was to explain plainly what Jesus said about specific fruits of the Spirit. I chose the topics of forgiveness, faith, hope, and love because I believe that these are the building blocks of a Jesus-follower. Forgiveness is one of the hardest lessons to learn. It is one of complete humility and submitting your pride, grudges, and worries over to the account of God and allowing him to deal fully with the situation presented. Faith comes in so many different shapes and sizes to everyone. Jesus desired his followers to have the faith of a child and put complete confidence in the power of believing in him and the wonders he can do through us and our lives. Hope is what guides us to look for tomorrow. It keeps a joy in our heart that reminds us of the blessings Jesus has promised to bestow upon us. Love is the ultimate. It is the rock on which we stand and the wind that guides our sails. Love is the reason Jesus came down off his throne to save the world. My

hope is that by looking directly to what Jesus taught we are more capable to instate a mind set in our every day lives that will hold true to answering the question of what would Jesus do? because now we have answered the question of what did Jesus say?. We cannot be perfect because we are only human. Jesus asked us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Our heavenly Father gave up his only son as a sacrifice for our sins through which grace we have now been made right with God. What is left is getting behind the wheel and following Jesus as closely as we can by living a life that displays the fruits of the Spirit. Paul wrote letters to dozens of churches across Macedonia encouraging Christians who were facing persecution and death. Today we have the amazing gift to be able to worship our Lord Jesus Christ free from fear of penalty. Given this amazing freedom and the comforts of the lives we have been given, we have no excuse to not follow the same advice Paul gave to the church of Ephesus. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.(Ephesians 5:1-2).