Romans 5:20 "Fall Down, Get Back Up"

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.  Romans 5:20


There is nothing good about sin. But it is the nature of God to be redeeming, and because God is a God of grace and mercy, He has found a way to make even our struggles and our failures into valuable, redemptive life-lessons.

The very cycle of falling down and getting back up is what creates in us the perseverance it takes to eventually overcome. It is not the falling down that is good; it is the getting back up. It is turning back to God when we realize that we have sinned, again. 

If we continue to fall down because we are trying to overcome sin on or own, through our own strength, through our own will power, through our own efforts, we will eventually realize that whenever we try on our own, we I fail.

We are not strong enough. We don’t have enough will power. We are too weak. But, then, that is the point where God wants us.

For those who truly love God, the very cycle of falling down and getting back up eventually brings us to full surrender to Christ. Out of our weakness, God’s strength is shown.

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John 13:34-35 "If You Love"

"And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.”  John 13:34-35

Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples –if you love one another.”

Think about the incredible implications of that statement. The world will not know the truth just because we hold correct doctrine, or because we go to the right church, or because we are knowledgeable in Scripture, or because we use our talents and abilities and spiritual gifts for the Kingdom, or because we are faithful to tithe, or because we follow the rules, or because we know a lot of religious jargon. 

Most of these things are good things –they are positive things –they are even things that usually accompany a right relationship with God. But none of these things are authorized by Christ to be the trademark for Christians.

The one and only identifier that is endorsed and authorized by Jesus is that the Body of Christ exhibits true love.

If the Body of Christ can truly love, the world will believe; if we cannot truly love, the world will never believe.

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