“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” — Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
Love-Based Simplicity
God’s command to love affords us a life of simplicity that can only be found in His Kingdom come to earth. Colossians 3:14 (ESV) says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Christianity is a simple religion. Jesus said that all of God’s commandments can be summed up with one word: love. Galatians 5:14 (ESV) says, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” How is it then that our spirituality often feels so complex and difficult? How is that we have a hard time experiencing the simplicity our faith affords us?
Complexity in Christianity finds its root in the attempt to live for both the world and God. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 6:24 (ESV), “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Loving God and people is simple. There is only one right choice before us in all that we do. Complexity enters into our lives as soon as we try and juggle living for the world and living for God. There is a fence between this world and God’s Kingdom too high to straddle. It is impossible to put one foot in God’s Kingdom while keeping a foot in the world.
God longs for you and me to make our first action every day to serve and love Him alone. He longs to guide us into the incredible, abundant life that comes from seeking His Kingdom above all else. 1 John 2:15-17 (ESV) tells us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” You cannot have both love for the world and love for your Heavenly Father. This world is at enmity with God (James 4:4). It is set against Him and His ways. But you and I have been given a choice by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus. We’ve been given a real, available option to serve and love the eternal, Almighty God.
It’s time for the bride of Christ to end its affair with the world. It’s time for us to let God love us and in response live for Him alone. It’s time for us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, ESV). Choose today the simplicity of love. Serve God alone. And discover a life far greater than anything you could experience outside of living for God above all else.
— Craig Denison, First 15
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