undertow

in the philosophy of Jesus
to see things from the top, head downward, then look up ..

it's a tough principle to inculcate
runs against the brain-grain, the natural, assumed human way ..

but Jesus was all for upside-down 'cause the kingdom of God is nothing like what we think it is, and it takes a newly created being to see that ..
that's why apostle paul frames ' in-Christ ' as ' new creation '
which turns out to be re-creation - into the human we were meant to be in the first place ..
 .... . .  .. . . . .       .

apostle John records Jesus' upside-down philosophy in chapters 3-5..
especially ch 5
and the sermon on the mount is inarguably the greatest monologue on the topic

it's not the easiest philosophy to follow .. our minds recognize it as unnatural, as in does-not-compute, doesn't fit well with society's view of success/accomplishment .. besides, how do i actually do that ? ..
but somehow it begins to feel right
our conscience bearing witness to the veracity of the simple reverse-motivated attitide
..
give, don't get
bless, don't curse
help, don't hurt
share, don't store
love, don't hate

and the thing is, don't simply comply/satisfy the request/need
go twice as far out of your way .. do it abundantly, with passion

think about that a minute ..


how do we keep the passion in our giving, our forgiving, our sharing ..
'cause apart from passion, it means little ..
passion means the ' me ' is in it
wholeheartedly

we can meet the need, but with the wrong motivation ..
or we can have the right motivation but be short on passion ..
Jesus said to give my self to it completely

here's one example

apostle paul, in a letter to the churches at Corinth, encouraged them to give to their fellow-christians in Jerusalem who were experiencing drought/famine conditions, and suffering as a result
he brought the ' share ' principle to mind - ' you benefitted from them, now share something you have for their need ' ..
i get that
it resounds with me

but
then
he upped the ante
he told them to give ' hilariously '
hilariously
as in, ' yeaaa ! '
like ' wow ! I get to give '

that's the difference between
giving from duty
vs giving from a rightly motivated heart
vs giving with delight, excitement .. passion

it's like when you love someone, you're excited to give them something .. .

' and the second is just like it .. love your neighbour as your self .. '
says Jesus ..

it's inside-out
reverse-think
unnatural

love enemies ?
giveup your life for me ?
bless the ones as they curse you ?
totally crazy
like, that's asking to get stepped-on, as in regularly

passion ..

me .. i have to be me in such a way that the passion stays fired
the passion consumes me

go there
do that
for God's sake ..
and in Jesus' name