RHYTHM (4): Passion (May 22)
God made Eve for Adam because He knew that all people needed relationship.
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’ ” (Genesis 2:18 NIV).
Having rhythm with others sounds simple, but it’s hard to live out. Right rhythm means that we need to be in right relationships. When our relationships are out of whack, our rhythm with those people is messed up and spills over into our relationship with God. Jesus teaches that murder is bad, but there are other ways you can murder someone.
Jesus said: “ ‘You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell” (Matthew 5:21-22 NLT).
You may have good reasons for not liking someone. But Jesus said: “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24 NLT).
For God, the indicator of our spiritual lives is not how often we pray. The indicator is the health of our relationships with
one another.To Jesus, our relational, emotional and spiritual lives are all connected--in the same way different instruments come together to play a song. Staying in rhythm with others comes down to power. Jesus calls on us to be weak with one another. Jesus calls on us to love our enemies--and then He hangs on a cross and dies for His enemies. When we push ourselves down, God pushes us up.
Loving others is an act of loving God.
BOTTOM LINE: If we aren’t in rhythm with others, we can’t be in rhythm with God.