Provoking Thoughts

As I've been reading a book entitled "The Relationship Principles of Jesus" by Tom Holladay, I've come across many different thoughts that have been very challenging, encouraging, and deep. They may seem random...but they are truth in many ways. (All are written by Tom Holladay unless otherwise indicated.)

"Relationships are complicated, high-speed stuff. The smallest misjudgment can cause us to spin out. When it comes to relationships, there's only one professional who drove this course - Jesus. He's the one who made relationships, and he's the one who can empower them and steer them in the right direction."

"You'll never change your relational priorities by continually doing an internal examination of your priorities. The only way to change your priorities is to begin to make different choices in your relationships. Jesus teaches that we must replace our old set of values with a new set - and we must then begin to act on this new set of values."

"Questions about priority are questions about faith. If I have faith that God will care for me, it frees me to live with a certain set of priorities; if instead I feel that it's up to me to take care of myself, my priorities will go in a completely different direction."

"God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships."

"When you love the Lord, you love Him with a unique voice - a voice different in tone, different in soul, from any other voice God hears in all of creation. Love God uniquely with the personality he's fashioned into your life."

"This day do I, with the utmost solemnity, surrender myself to thee. I renounce all former lords that have had dominion over me; and I consecrate to thee all that I am, and all that I have; the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my worldly possessions, my time, and my influence over others; to be all used entirely for thy glory, and resolutely employed in obedience to thy commands, as long as thou continuest me in life... To thee I leave the management of all events, and say without reserve, 'Not my will but thine be done.'" ~ Philip Doddridge in "The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul"

"If you're going to love God with your thoughts, you have to love the people he made in that same way. It's all too easy to see the faults in others. Loving God with all your mind involves looking for what's best in others and telling them, 'I see something of God's character in you.'"

"Any time I limit the word neighbor to some group smaller than everyone, I've missed the meaning of Jesus' words."

"God's love is an 'everyone/everywhere/all the time' kind of love; human love is a 'some people/some places/some of the time' kind of love."

"God wants us to depend on him for the power to love. So he challenges us to love in a way we can only accomplish through daily dependence on his power."

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable." ~ C.S. Lewis in "The Four Loves"

"Keep this in mind: the one relationship you can truly count on is your relationship to Jesus Christ. Lean on your relationship to him as you take the risk to love others."

"Jesus also shows us how to love one person at a time. He didn't spend all night making to-do lists of which people he would show love to the next day. He didn't have some kind of prioritizing grid through which everyone who wanted his love had to pass. He simply loved people as the opportunity arose during the normal traffic patterns of his life."

"Paradoxically, those who have the healthiest relationships often are the most comfortable in being alone with God."

"It feels a lot more comfortable to compare ourselves to others than it does to compare ourselves to Jesus!"

"Jesus doesn't want you to try your hardest; Jesus wants you to learn to trust in him. Jesus set the bar so high that the only way it could be reached was by living and thinking in an entirely new way. Christianity is not trying harder; Christianity is trusting Jesus."

"Some relationships degrade into habit, rules, 'how we've always done it'; others continue to bask in the fresh air of newness, even after many years. Rediscover the attitude of love in the everyday habits of your life. You simply take the things that have become mere habit and inject love into them again. Why is this so important? Because much of life is routine. If you don't allow love to become a part of the routine of life, love will be missing from the majority of the minutes in your day."

"I am spellbound by the intensity of Jesus' emotions; not a twinge of pity, but heartbroken compassion; not a passing irritation, but terrifying anger; not a silent tear, but groans of anguish; not a weak smile, but ecstatic celebration. Jesus' emotions are like a mountain river, cascading with clear water. My emotions are more like a muddy foam or feeble trickle. Jesus invites us to come to him and drink. Whoever is thirsty and believes in him will have the river of his life flowing out from the innermost being (John 7:37-38). We are not to be merely spellbound by what we see in the emotional Jesus; we are to be unbound by his Spirit so that his life becomes our life, his emotions our emotions, to be "transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory." ~ G. Watler Hansen in "The Emotions of Jesus"

Based on Matthew 5:30 ("If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.") "Jesus is telling us not to let anything get in the way of the radical heart change he wants to work in our lives. Throughout the Bible, the 'right hand' is a picture of that which is most important, most precious, most valued. what you allow into your heart is serious business. So take it seriously. Be willing to say, I will do anything it takes to ensure that my heart is in the right place.' What you allow into your heart affects every relationship. So when you recognize some unforgiveness, some bitterness, some lust in your heart, don't try to just taper it off. Cut it off as quickly as possible because what's happening in your heart is having a negative impact on your relationships with God and others. Jesus reminds us of how crucial this is when he says, 'Cut off your right hand.' Take your heart seriously and act radically."

"Jesus Christ can give a power in your relationships that you never dreamed possible - power to love and grow, power so that you are not relationally worn down at the end of every day."

"It's easy to say you love if you're spending most of your time alone. You can only truly love when spending time with others. Let's admit it, there are many high-tech barriers to fellowship today. Even though you're with people, you're not really with them. You're talking on the phone but reading your e-mail at the same time. You're on a walk with a friend, and both of you have your iPod headphones on. You're out on a date - in a movie theater where you can't talk. We're at a point where we need to disconnect in order to connect - to disconnect from our media sources in order to connect with people."

"True fellowship cannot be forced or scheduled; it must be chosen and accepted."

"Without people around you who are different from you, you'll never truly grow."

"True love sacrifices. The greatest sacrificed may not be the once-in-a-lifetime sacrifices; they may well be the daily sacrifices. You give up your way and seek another person's good. No one else may even know you did it, but you'll know you acted in response to Jesus' love for you."

"That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." ~ William Wordsworth