Once again, tagged

Blame it on The Very Left Reverend.

“5 things I dig about Jesus”

1.) He taught me how to love. Christ loves me no matter what. That freaks me out a little. But that love is the greatest example of what love really is - to lay down one's life for a friend. To be there when no one else is. To forgive the unforgivable. To go beyond justice to mercy. This love, his love to me... it's unconditional. And he taught me to love others the same way. Ultimately, love comes from Jesus and to try and control it is futile. I get love because he gives love. And I am able to give love because I was loved first.

2.) He worked with his hands. I love that Jesus was a carpenter. As Bonhoeffer once called him, "a man for others". He'd hang out with all kinds of people. He didn't live the life one might expect a King to live; he lived the life given to him. We can all take a lesson from that.

3.) He puts up with my crap. Over and over. I don't get it, I don't understand why, but he does. I fail him every day and everyday, I kneel at the foot of the cross and ask forgiveness. And it's always there. It doesn't make sense. Maybe that's why I dig it.

4.) He humbles and encourages me at the same time. I think this is the most surprising part of being in the ministry I've experienced so far. How the littlest thing you do can make a difference, in good and bad ways. I'm honestly just trying to live out what I feel he's called me to do and it's astonishing to me how often it makes a difference to someone else. Only Christ could do both at the same time and not irritate me.

5.) He offends people - and he's right. He broke boundaries and did the unexpected. He doesn't sugar-coat, he tells us to do the opposite of what's in our nature to do, and somehow he made the answers to life's questions simple. It's no wonder some people think he's a lunatic. He answered yes or no questions with stories that were puzzles, he forgave what most would see as unforgivable, and knew he was going to die and didn't run from it. He unflinching spoke the truth. There's nothing typical about Jesus.

Now that, I dig.

Comments

kc bob said…
Great list! Love, manual labor, tolerance, encouragement and confrontation - what is not to like about that!
bobbie said…
i like that jesus too! thanks for your comment on my blog - i'll have to give that book a read!

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