A Narrow Road of Caring

 A narrow road is a road that could be easy to wander off of. Have you ever tried to walk down a long narrow hallway with your eyes shut. The way our eyes adjust our path constantly is a really important piece of how we get from point A to point B. Whenever we start to wander in the slightest we can see the variance almost subconsciously and adjustments are made. 

In Matthew 7:13 Jesus is speaking and this whole thing is during the sermon on the mount and he says. Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 

This statement follows right on the golden rule about treating others as you would have them treat you. This golden run has a pre-clause and  post-clause. The pre-clause is a therefore and I'll talk about that in a second. I'll do it third but in a second. The second clause which is a post-clause is a statement that says that this is the Law and the prophets. In other word, this is what God was teaching us to do. It does not break the law and does not go contrary to God's purposes. That would be enough. 

The pre-clause is a therefore and tells us why we do that. Why does it make perfect sense to treat others the way we want to be treated? It is because we can see that God will give us what is good when we ask Him. This we can see because we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our own children. 

The road then, which makes perfect sense and fulfills the law and the profits (thanks to Jesus) is to treat others as we would have them treat us AND with that to be VERY intentional and to put in significant effort to get it done. Because you belong to God, your situation is in His hand and because that is so you can walk a narrow road. There is an alternative that is proposed by many who do not trust God and frankly, if I did not trust God I would need to take matters in my own hands (which I would likely screw up quite often). You can work very diligently to treat others as you would like to be treated. You can be loving and kind. Even you can work very hard at it because you are safe. Safe in God's care is a good place to be. #reachingnewheightsinjesus

 I was burned out. I was stuck. God led me to figure things out. This is how He did it. Get some people in your life who are also trying to listen to God and reach new heights in Jesus and if you need a little coaching, I might be able to help. I am nobody, really. But, God is everything and together we might be able to submit to Him as we should. 

Act like men

 

This is one of my favorite verses to remind me that God made me able and I can stand firm. It doesn't mean be hard. It means love unending. Feel free to tell other men about FWM. They can text FWM to 419-419-0005 to join.

There are significant differences between men and women. I'm not going to speak to the differences except to say men should be men. Be on the alert-pay attention, heads up, something is happening. Your response to whatever happens around you must be to stand firm as a follower of Christ. We can love and love more deeply because we are strong in Christ. Indeed this new command which Jesus gave us remains. And accordingly we remain if we walk in love. Real men don't quit. We don't quit loving. We don't quit standing. We don't quit following Jesus. 

The spoiled rotten stubbornness we had a lost person was just our unability to quit standing warped by the devastating effects of the Fall. Your tantrums have no place here but your loving perseverance will serve as constant proof to yourself and to watching world that you are a man and a man following Christ.