Life Is _____

I want to be so caught up in God’s love that I stop thinking about myself.

We lose our lives because we forget ourselves as we remember and revel in the love of Jesus—in who he is and what he has done for us.

more we focus on ourselves, the more we lose our satisfaction, our fulfillment, and our meaning.

But if I try to deny myself all by myself, I actually focus on self more than ever. Emphasizing self is inherently counterproductive. Self is the problem, not the solution.

our lives must start and end with a dependence on God. They must start and end in the love and grace and mercy of God. Everything else will flow from that.

Keeping ourselves in the love of God is the way to end well.

Faithfulness and hard work and commitment are great—don’t get me wrong—but we can’t put our trust in ourselves. We can’t depend on our own efforts and self-discipline to stay true to Jesus.

He knew that true security and strength were found not in frantic human effort, but in resting in Jesus’ love

John understood what it meant to live in the love of Jesus. He knew how to rest his head on Jesus’ heart even when chaos and uncertainty and fear were the order of the day. He was “the disciple Jesus loved.” The love of Jesus was his identity, his focus, his priority. Love was how he started and how he lived his life, and love led him to finish well.

Peter is active, working, striving. That’s just what happens in life when someone trusts in him- or herself to fulfill God’s commandments. It’s a life lived by stone, by the law. We work it out and make it happen. It’s about performance. It’s about action.