A friend's perspective...

[Willie T]

This is a thought a young friend of mine posted. I am sure it will find plenty of opposition here... simply because what he said will not really be read.

"Jesus is not a priority, and believing on him does not require that He ascend to the number one spot on your list of most important things. No, the moment you do that, you effectively "Gnosticize" your experience of the world, and will find yourself feeling like the rope in a game of tug of war between things natural and spiritual. You'll constantly find yourself feeling as though your Christianity and marriage are in competition with one another; that Jesus is jealous of the time you spend doing your job, etc."

"Christianity is not "making Jesus number one in your life". Jesus is not an item on your list of priorities, but the light which transforms the way you see and interact with the things that do belong on a list of priorities. He is not in competition with your life, His message simply invites you to live it differently."

 

[Episkopos]

This is a thought a young friend of mine posted. I am sure it will find plenty of opposition here... simply because what he said will not really be read.

"Jesus is not a priority, and believing on him does not require that He ascend to the number one spot on your list of most important things. No, the moment you do that, you effectively "Gnosticize" your experience of the world, and will find yourself feeling like the rope in a game of tug of war between things natural and spiritual. You'll constantly find yourself feeling as though your Christianity and marriage are in competition with one another; that Jesus is jealous of the time you spend doing your job, etc."

"Christianity is not "making Jesus number one in your life". Jesus is not an item on your list of priorities, but the light which transforms the way you see and interact with the things that do belong on a list of priorities. He is not in competition with your life, His message simply invites you to live it differently."

He has a good point I think. Jesus is not an idol or an object of fanaticism to be obsessed over. He is the means by which we do everything....who we see through and act through.

 

[Helen]

This is a thought a young friend of mine posted. I am sure it will find plenty of opposition here... simply because what he said will not really be read.

"Jesus is not a priority, and believing on him does not require that He ascend to the number one spot on your list of most important things. No, the moment you do that, you effectively "Gnosticize" your experience of the world, and will find yourself feeling like the rope in a game of tug of war between things natural and spiritual. You'll constantly find yourself feeling as though your Christianity and marriage are in competition with one another; that Jesus is jealous of the time you spend doing your job, etc."

"Christianity is not "making Jesus number one in your life". Jesus is not an item on your list of priorities, but the light which transforms the way you see and interact with the things that do belong on a list of priorities. He is not in competition with your life, His message simply invites you to live it differently."

This is the kind of thing our friend @bbyrd009 is often trying to say - I THINK. He will tell me if I am wrong.

I remember when I was much younger , I wrestled with " My spiritual life and my normal every day life. "

The I hear a word preach, saying that everything we do, be it making the bed, eating our food...going to work...all is our spiritual service...with the right mind set...our whole life is 'worship', it is only us who make a separation..

 

[brakelite]

I think He must be a priority in as much as we need to recognise that "without Him we can do nothing". That He indeed is a Light to our path, and "lamp to our feet", and that in Him we all "live and move and have our being", and "we can do all things in Christ". When He ceases to be our priority, finding success and joy in everything else becomes futile. The trick I think is in allowing Him to live HIS life through us. I remember when my wife and I were first married, we were youth leaders in our local church. MY wife (and rightly so) would get quite upset when "the youth/church etc became my priority over our marriage. It took me a wee while to understand the difference between the church business and Christ.
Having Jesus as our priority doesn't exclude everything else, but to the contrary, empowers us to do everything else that brings honour to Him. Thus when people see our daily lives, the way in which we interact with others, the way we deal with others in business and in sport or casual relationships, they should be able to see "that we have been with Jesus".

 

[bbyrd009]

This is the kind of thing our friend @bbyrd009 is often trying to say - I THINK. He will tell me if I am wrong.

I wish! lol

 

[bbyrd009]

Imo hate your life, hate your family is going to engender friction no matter the pov is there, although I could be mistaken? A man's enemies will be those of his own household which I'm aware works on a personal level too. So I dunno, I'm conflicted there now I guess

 

[Willie T]

 

[Willie T]

Imo hate your life, hate your family is going to engender friction no matter the pov is there, although I could be mistaken? A man's enemies will be those of his own household which I'm aware works on a personal level too. So I dunno, I'm conflicted there now I guess

This is the way I wish more translations expressed it:

Luke 14:26 The Passion Translation (TPT)

26 “When you follow me as my disciple, you must put aside [a] your father, your mother, your wife, your sisters, your brothers—yes, you will even seem as though you hate your own life. This is the price you’ll pay to be considered one of my followers.

Footnotes:
(a) Luke 14:26 Or “hate.” This is an Aramaic and Hebraic metaphor for putting Jesus above every other relationship. The Aramaic word sna has several meanings and can mean “hate” or “put aside.” In this case, Jesus, the King of love is not saying to hate but to put aside every other relationship into second place. The meaning becomes quite clear in the Aramaic language.

 

[bbyrd009]

This is the way I wish more translations expressed it:

Luke 14:26 The Passion Translation (TPT)

26 “When you follow me as my disciple, you must put aside [a] your father, your mother, your wife, your sisters, your brothers—yes, you will even seem as though you hate your own life. This is the price you’ll pay to be considered one of my followers.

Footnotes:
(a) Luke 14:26 Or “hate.” This is an Aramaic and Hebraic metaphor for putting Jesus above every other relationship. The Aramaic word sna has several meanings and can mean “hate” or “put aside.” In this case, Jesus, the King of love is not saying to hate but to put aside every other relationship into second place. The meaning becomes quite clear in the Aramaic language.

and obv Marta is going to get upset when Mary sits I guess huh