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OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION 2. GOD IS LOVE! 3. THERE IS NO ONE GOOD BUT GOD
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The purpose of this section is to discuss the source of love and good. It's best to read over the section about God's Love and Power first.
The passage below needs no introduction or explanation, only meditation.
Before reading further, spend at least 2-3 minutes reading and thinking about the above passage.
Origin of love: "Love comes from God."
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us..."
All good comes from God.
Again, the Bible couldn't be more clear about the source of good, as this passage begins with a warning against being deceived to believe otherwise.
Someone may protest that in these verses Jesus is insinuating he isn't good. That's not what this passage says. Jesus asked why the man called him good. The man did not know that Jesus was God. If you look at this passage from the man's perspective, there's no confusion.
The important takeaway is the statement by Jesus that there is no one good except God alone. While we may accept this statement as truth, it is important to make sure it is our view of ourselves. Many people, including many Christians, see themselves as "good."
Nobody is good. Period.
Let's look at what integrating this truth into our lives looks like. We will be humble, not seeing ourselves as better than we are. Another passage speaks directly to our view of ourselves.
Our view of ourselves should be that we are sinful, broken people with no good in us whatsoever. Any good we do, any good we have ever done before or since we've been saved is God's good in us and through us. This may be hard to take, to believe. Thankfully, God is so good to be so clear about everything that is important for us to know.
If there was any hesitation in accepting the source of good in our lives, this should clarify it. When our light, our good, is evident to mankind, we don't get the praise. God does. God does because it is His good showing through broken, sinful people!
Our attitude then is one of humility, of not being the source in any manner of good or of love. While we feel like nothing, or useless without God, that's not the whole picture. The rest of the picture is that the God of the universe uses our broken sinful vessels to show His goodness and love to the world. We are ambassadors of Christ (I Cor 5:20) and
God glorifies Himself in and through us.
(Eph 1:11-12) As we walk through life and find ourselves showing love for someone else by doing what's best for them and serving them, we can be excited that the God of the universe chose to use lowly us for His glory. When someone does something kind for us, and shows us love, we can look up and thank God for loving us through that person. Having a view based on truth saves us much heartache from people letting us down. The reality is that for a season, God showed His goodness and love through a person to touch our lives. When a particular person lets us down, for at least that moment they are no longer being vessels of God in our lives. God has promised neither to leave nor forsake us. He is still here. He doesn't want us leaning on anyone so hard that when they no longer become vessels, we fall.
We need to first look up and know how much we're loved by God
(FIVE WAYS GOD LOVES US) and look around wondering who He will use as a vessel next in our lives or when that person who let us down will again become that vessel.
Living in this truth helps us live in the truth presented in It is not about us, and our desired way; it is about God.
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