The foundational attitude of the Christian should be that everything is done in love. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. (I Cor 13:3)

No matter what we do, if we do not love through it, we are not responding correctly. This takes some serious devotion. God has to do some real work in us for that to be true. We have a lot of history to let go of. We have to go against societal norms that push us to get our own way.

Love is the air we breath in the kingdom. Check yourself and see what your motivations are. In your daily interactions with people, you probably never even think about it. That’s why we have to submit ourselves to God. He has to change us and renew our minds. When we are filled with His Spirit, we led by Him, when we choose to pay attention. Our actions can actually be motivated by love.

Ask God to help you love more. Ask Him to remove anything from your life that keeps you from loving. Be honest with Him and confess any unholy attitudes that you know you have. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit so you can be the loving one that changes the lives of people you meet with. Love is awesome. Get more.

Is it possible to be one with the Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches? Is there a place where we can unite as a universal church in truth? Can we stop pointing fingers at each other and be one in Christ? I think so.

Recently, Tony Palmer, an Anglican Priest presented to a conference of Evangelical pastors with a message about unification that will knock your socks off. Here is the YouTube video of that message. Stay with it, because there is a message from the Pope that is very touching.

Are you protecting pain? For some reason, we like to hold onto the things that hurt us and protect it carefully, not allowing anyone or anything to touch it. If it gets touched, we’re afraid that it will start hurting again. We think if we ignore it or distance ourselves from any chance of stirring things up, we’ll be safe.

Not so. Holding onto pain is like adding poison to your food every time you eat. It will literally eat away at your soul until you can’t feel anything at all. That’s not a way to live, especially since Jesus sacrificed so much to deliver you out of it.

Help is a heartbeat away. All you have to do it confess to God that you’ve been holding onto what you shouldn’t have and give it to Him. All of it. Don’t give it over then take it back again. Allow the peace of God to settle into your spirit and heal you. It may take time to take layers off, so keep at it. Eventually, you’ll feel the joy that belongs to you.

Holding pain, protecting anything that hurts you, is a bad idea. Yours is a promise of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Live in freedom and the fullness of what is yours in Christ.

You are a history maker, whether you think so or not. Everything you do effects your life, the lives of people around you, and how it all fits together for the future. You actions, or lack of action, creates a ripple the extends out through time. You don’t have to be a statesman to effect tremendous change. The question is, will it be for good or bad?

To effect change for good, we need to have the mind of Christ. If the Spirit of God is within you to hear His voice, you can make decisions that He is directing. Think about it — everything you do can be the right thing. Yes, we are human, and we will make mistakes, but God can still work with that. Being submissive to His will and His voice gives us the direction and inspiration that we need to release the kingdom of God on earth.

What if your encouragement is all that is needed for someone especially marked by God to change nations? What happens if you don’t do it? Will God use someone else? Who knows? What if your life is such an example of righteousness that you impress people who may never speak to you about it? What you say and don’t say can be vitally important to the destiny of lives you know nothing about.

There is some pressure on us to be righteous beyond our personal needs and wants. We are connected to people, places, and nations. Listen to God and change history today. You have no idea how you will be used.

What is the legacy that you will leave?

To live in the kingdom is to live in inheritance. We have the fullness of everything that God has given us, whether we chose to receive it or not. We are adopted into the family of God through the blood so our inheritance is sure.

But what do we do with it? If we accept the amazing blessing of being a child in the King’s house, we have more than enough to give away. God is a God of abundance. We’re not meant to hold onto what we’ve been given. We’re meant to live in community and family and bless each other.

We should be known for the blessings of God. We should leave a trail behind us of goodness, the fragrance of heaven. We should be helping the next generation to come into the kingdom and prepare them to take our place. The wisdom that we’ve learned needs to be passed on. Freely we’ve been given, freely we should give.

The legacy in the kingdom will look different on each one of us. Don’t try to be a copy of someone else. Be who you’ve been made to be and your legacy will be exactly as it should — a shining light to help others follow you to God.

I think there’s a lot of good that could be done in the church if people would be honest with each other. The stereotype of the church being filled with hypocrites is based on reality. I think we would all consider it shameful if we talk righteously in church and then live in an ungodly way, but we don’t consider the small ways we fail to live in truth.

Jesus said, Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you,rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. (Luke 17:3)

How often do we allow offense to go unaddressed because we don’t have the nerve to say anything about it? Instead, we carry it around and let it fester and make us unhappy. If we would be honest about it, we can correct it and move on.

Rebuke does not have to be threatening. In fact, that’s a terrible way to deal with it. If we recognize that love is the motivation for clearing the air, then rebuke is merely pointing out something that happened with honesty. If the other person was unaware of how they offended you, it gives them revelation and a chance to ask forgiveness. If they did know how they offended you, it give them a chance to explain their motivations. (Forgive them anyway.)

The point is, don’t sit on it. Never carry around anything that makes you unhappy or guilty. Clear the air, in a loving and kind way. We are family and we take care of each other, and that means being honest.