Tag: Relief

Where Does the Law End

Have you ever wondered where the law ends. Think about it, there is law after law after law and even those that seem to be silly in their application, however we are held accountable to them. You can’t honk your horn near a sandwich shop, you can’t put an animal in the back seat of an open car, and the list goes on. Even in the Levitical law, your tassels must be just so long. Where does it all end. Where do we find the relief from the law. IN CHRIST.

“10For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’” “13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—“ — Galatians 3:10 & 13 (ESV)

As Paul writes and quotes the book of the law, we are held captive by all of the law. We are having to continue looking to see if we are doing things according to the law and as such are not free to just live our lives. Until Jesus. When Jesus came, He freed us from the law by taking our place as relates to the curse of the law. He took on the curse to allow us to live according to His love and redemption. Jesus provided relief from the law.

Yes, we are still held to account. We are free, yes, but not free to just run wild. We are now under the law of the LORD and not the law according to man. We are guided by the Holy Spirit and will find ourselves not concerned with the law according to man in that it does not run our daily actions in the world. We are free once again as were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall. We are free to follow and rely on the LORD for all and not man. We have reached the end of the law of man and are able to live according to Christ.

Where is the end of the law for you? Are you held to the idea that we have to know and comply with every law or rule without exception? What if we just focused on the Law of the LORD as written on our heart to be free?

Love From the Heart

I was led to a passage in Leviticus this morning titled, “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”. Verse 17 of chapter 19 was the verse that led me here as I continue my study of the word “heart”.

“17You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.” – Leviticus 19:17 (ESV)

This verse by itself does not speak of love directly. In fact, in the complete passage, including the title, the word love is only used twice. But the concept of love is fully given. Not in the common emotional sense, but in the action sense and that can be seen in the verse above.

Love is often considered soft and fluffy. It is this vision of the caring mother, the doting spouse, the affectionate parent, or the giving neighbor. Where this is love in action, it is also action of love to be frank with others and holding others accountable and not doing doing things that cause others to find grief or hardship and provide some relief.

The verse above tells us to not have hate in our heart. How do we do that, well, we fill our heart with love actions. Author and speaker Jon Gordon writes in his book “The Positive Dog”, “you can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time”a. Where this quote is not specific to love, it does speak to the idea that your heart cannot be full of hate if it is full of love. It is in love that we take action.

Love begins with God and when He fills our heart, we have no room for hate. With God in our heart, we will emit it all around us. No, it will not always be seen as the caring mother, the doting spouse, the affectionate parent, or the giving neighbor. But it will always be to not cause others to find grief or hardship and provide some relief. It all starts with that love from the heart.

What is your view of love and where it comes from? Are you stuck on the emotional side of love? What if you were to fill you heart with God, who is love, and leave no room for hate so that you can bring love to others from your heart?

aGordon, Jon. The Positive Dog. John Wiley & Sons, 2012, p. 18.