the Overlap

Obviously, I could keep going on (and on and on and on) about the impact of preaching the Gospel to yourself every day. It’s that important, that central – when we explore the vast implications of the God of the Universe sacrificing his Son on the cross, that Son who rose again, it changes everything. The Gospel is powerful and practical enough to reach into every aspect of our lives. Under the umbrella of the Gospel, every facet of our lives becomes part of the story of God’s glory and love.

So, I am hoping, if my feeble words can communicate anything, you understand that the story of Jesus is absolutely central, and it should be the focus of everything we do.

And I’ll leave you one last thought: the Gospel is our ultimate motivation for everything we do. 

I clearly remember fallingin love with my husband. In fact, it was hard not to – because he pursued me ruthlessly. Before I even knew him, he had set his eyes on me. And he was determined to win me – from scheming ways to meet me to listening as I shared my heart to reading poetry to me and surprising me with tea under the stars – he never stopped trying. And I couldn’t help but fall for him in return. Who is this that would be all about winning someone like me? 

Such is the relationship between Christ and his bride.

When our hearts fully grasp that we have been given righteousness, that we have been ruthlessly pursue (He has danced over us with singing!!), that our life is one of abundance and security and great joy, we can’t help but fall in love.

Who would give everything to win people like us?

And people who fall in love with Jesus obey his commands (John 15). Not out of penance to pay for their sins, or works to win their salvation, or legalism to inflate their pride, but simply out of deep, overflowing love.

When our hearts overflow with gratitude for and joy in the Gospel of Christ, we can’t help but respond to him in loving ways.

So, join me in preaching the Gospel to ourselves…every day? To chew on it, to let it sink into the fibers of our daily living?

To fall in love withJesus?

Because this is the Gospel: a passionate story between a lover and his bride.

[If, in the daily, ongoing sermon, you are learning new things about what the Gospel means in your every day living, please share! I would love to hear how it is uprooting you.]

Breathe in. Breathe out. 

I am going to need a lot of grace here.

I am a classic firstborn. Independent. Strong-willed. A massive morality complex. With me, there aren’t any shades of gray. There’s black and white. Right and wrong.

And although it’s great to be committed to absolute truth and to biblical morals, I call my morality a complex because it also contains a lot of pride and legalism and judgment.

I am always trying to pick specks out of people’s eyes.

Remember George MacDonald? People preach best what they need to hear most.

Yep.

Just know that I’m approaching this one with a lot of humility. And a lot of repentance. And it’s (mostly) for me, this preaching what Jenni needs to hear.

Understanding the Gospel means this: I understand that I am a sinner, incapable of any good. On my own, I have a wicked dark heart, capable of murder and lust and absolute evil.

Therefore, any goodness in me, any truth, any love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or discipline comes only from God. I achieve and am nothing good on my own.

Preaching the Gospel is a place of absolute humility.

But the Gospel also means that in the midst of my mess and evil and darkness, I was loved and pursued by a God willing to give everything for me. At my very worst, I was (and am) still his prize. While we were still sinners…

Preaching the Gospel is also a place of absolute value.

The married man flirting with another woman? The co-worker who gambles himself deeper and deeper into debt? The woman who is with a different man every weekend and spews explicit details? Nothing separates me from these people, except by the grace of God. And, remember George MacDonald? People preach best what they need to hear most – the specks that rub me most wrong in other people are just pointing directly to the log-sized issues in my heart.

I am no different. And God loves them – deeply, passionately – while they are still sinners. Each person I encounter is absolutely valuable, deeply treasured. Because God loves them.

Preaching the Gospel to myself gives this great platform from which I am equipped to offer compassion to everyone I meet. Because as I find myself in this place of humility and great worth, I find myself side-by-side with sinners, equally humbled and equally loved: a place where God’s grace can extend.

This is the Gospel: to tremble at the great love God shows these broken jars of clay.

This is the Gospel: Every one I meet is greatly loved and greatly valued and greatly in need of God.

Even, and most definitely, me.