When it comes down to it, what else really matters? You can spend your three t's (time, talent, treasure) trying to get something you (think you) haven't got... but that's not really living. And by doing that, you rob yourself OF really living. You know the old saying, "If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?" It doesn't make sense. And the worst part is... if you're trying to earn something that can't be earned, you're missing out on the gift you've already been given. Because, just like in the Wizard of Oz, what you're looking for is what you've had all along. Its inside you. And, yes, the right people can help bring that love our of you, but you first have to know and believe that its in there. That's why 1 John 4:19 is so important. "We love him, because he first love us." The love comes from God, fills us up to overflowing, and comes out of us. And I like this verse even better in the NLT, "We love each other because he loved us first." We love Him BY loving each other. Jesus said, "'And the King will say, "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"'" (Matthew 25:40). We love each other because He first loved us. And we love Him by loving each other. Its all a big circle of love. That's what life is; spending time with the people you love. I read somewhere that children spell love "T-I-M-E." Because once you give someone your time, you can't get it back. Its a gift. And, again, that's what love is--giving someone everything you are and everything you have. That might seem scary, too, because there IS a chance that they'll reject your gift. But perfect love casts out all fear. And when you find someone who loves you like you love them... that's when you really understand what it means to live. To be truly and fully alive. There's something special about loving people even if they don't accept it (right now). There's something special about planting a seed. But when the harvest comes... when you see the fruit of that labor (HIS labor on the cross manifesting as you let HIM live HIS life in you, and through you, and as you) that's something amazing. The harvest. Which Jesus described in Luke 10:2, "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." We are the labourers, in the sense that we reap what He has sown. In the sense that He is Word (LOVE) and in us the Word is made flesh. Love in action is charity. Giving. And that's what its all about. Nobody ever went broke by being generous. The more you give, the more you find that you have. Because, in this sense, giving is really SHARING. And things are more real when they are shared. Shared experiences are always better. Shared lives are always better. It is not good that man should be alone. And there's nothing worse than FEELING like you're alone even when you're not. So, to end this Rant, my entire point is... Logan said I should Rant about love. Because what else is worth Ranting about? And we should live a life of love. Because what else is worth our lives? God loved us first and He gave His life FOR us, and TO us. So that we could give our lives--our love--to each other. And in that way give them to God. Living FOR God (love) by living IN God (love)!

Love is the only thing that matters. Especially when you're talking about why Jesus came--which is to give us life, and that more abundantly. Because love is what MAKES the abundant life abundant. Love is what makes life worth living. Because love is what makes living possible. Because to live is to love, and to love is to live. They aren't just connected, they are the same thing. God is love. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The way to love, the truth about love, and the life of love. When we were yet sinners--dead in our trespasses and sins--God showed His love for us. By giving His life for us. By giving His life TO us. So that we might stop trying to earn something that can't be earned. So that we might stop feeling unloved and instead know and believe the love of God. So that we might stop killing ourselves trying to be someone we're not and instead experience that abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as Jesus lives His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Its a life or death issue. Look at Deuteronomy 30:19, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." And, really, it IS a choice. A choice to either close your heart down--because you've been hurt before--or to guard your heart by keeping it open. Look at 1 John 4:8, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." And remember that verse we looked at the other day? "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14). If you don't know love... you don't know God. Because God IS love. And if you don't love your brother... you're abiding in death. Almost CHOOSING to stay in death even though, through the cross, we have been made alive. We have been given the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth--so that we might know and believe the love of God. And in that way know and believe (or have faith in) God Himself. He gave us what He wanted us to have... because He wanted us to have it... because He loves us. He gave us a righteous judgment that we ought to receive and release. The judgment of LIFE. Which is the judgment of LOVE. So that we can stop trying to GET things from each other... and instead SHARE things with each other. So that we can stop trying to earn a gift (which, by definition, cannot be earned) and we can start experiencing and enjoying that gift. By giving it away. What else could someone who is hurting need? Someone piling on and kicking them when they're down? Or someone REACHING down to help them up. If you love someone when they think they don't deserve it... you will blow their mind. And they might reject it. Because they might not be ready for it. But some plant seeds, and some water seeds. All you can do is all you can do. Do your best and forget the rest. Love people the best you can and let it be what its gonna be. Live your life the way you were created to live it: By letting God love you until you are filled to overflowing with His love and watch it come out. Naturally. Not by forcing it out, but simply by LETTING your light shine! Simply by loving others with the love that your heavenly Father has loved you with!

Its all about love. Because what else could it be about? What else matters? What else is life for? Life is for living. God matters, and people matter. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. Loving God by letting Him first love us. When we were yet sinners--DEAD in our trespasses and sins--God showed His love for us by giving His life for us. By giving His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as HE lives it in us, and through us, and as us. That's what mattered to God on the cross. (And really, since the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, that's ALL that has EVER mattered to God.) In the garden of Eden Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God because they ate from the wrong tree and moved out of the innocence that was the finished work of the garden and into the judgment of good and evil. They ate from the tree of death and on the day that they did so they surely died. They lost sight of what was important. Their natural eyes were opened, and they began to see all of the surface stuff. All of the outward actions. They believed the lie that says you have to do in order to be. You don't do in order to be. You do BECAUSE you be. You don't love in order to GET love. You love because you ARE loved. Because you are LOVE. Jesus said what I'm trying to say a lot better than I can: "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). And, by the way, JUDGING righteous judgment doesn't mean getting up on your high horse and trying to prove that you are more righteous than someone else. That's not strength. Judging righteous judgment means, "To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD" (Psalm 149:9). And that judgment that we judge--or execute--is the judgment that the Father proclaimed upon the Son what God raised Jesus from the dead. The judgment is not death to sinners. Sinners were already dead before the cross. The judgment was life, and that more abundantly. A life sentence. And what is life but love? A life sentence is a LOVE sentence. So when we execute the righteous judgment of life... we do so by loving people! We show people God without even having to say His name (just by saying His WORD, which is Jesus, which is love). We make the important things important by focusing on them. By setting our affection on things above (or WITHIN, the heart) and not on things on the earth. Not judging by appearance. I've found that most of the time--almost ALL of the time--when people talk... they don't know what they're talking about. They don't know the whole story. So I don't let what people say bother me. Its like water off a duck's back. When you know the truth--that you are unconditionally loved by the God who IS love--its easy to ignore the lie. Again, you don't have to do in order to be. You already be. And when you know what you be, you do BECAUSE you be. What you know is what you throw. You can't give what you don't have. And you can't be someone you're not. God showed us who we are by showing us who HE is. Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body. He gave us everything we needed by giving us Himself. His Spirit. His love. What else?

What else but love makes life worth living? Because, let's track this: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8) and "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). God IS love. And God (Jesus, God in the flesh) IS life. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. You can't live without loving, and you can't love without living. That's what it means to truly be alive. Look at 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." We WERE dead in our trespasses and sins before the cross. And then God--who is love, who is life--showed His LOVE for us by giving His LIFE for us, and to us. Because, in the grand scheme of things, at the end of the day, what else matters? Loving someone by giving them everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for them. And in that sacrifical act... truly living. Living for something greater than yourself. Experiencing the eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life of God as HE lives His own life in you, and through you, and as you. Experiencing that resurrection... that passing from death unto life... every time the Word (love) is made flesh (charity). When you move in an act of love, that's when--and how-- you walk by faith. LIVE by faith. Faith in God. Which is faith in love. You can't live without loving, and you can't love without living. And, according to John 10:10, that's kind of the whole point: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." People always want to make things into heaven or hell issues. And, I guess in a sense I can go down that road. Because hell was the place of the dead (before it was thrown into the lake of fire) and heaven on earth is truly living. Because really its a life or death issue. And not just any life. ABUNDANT life. And what makes abundant life abundant? What else but love! A lot of people don't seem to realize that the thief in John chapter 10 is not the devil. It is trying to enter the sheepfold any other way but the through the door. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1). And that means that WE are the thief when we try to get something that we've already got. When we try to earn something that has been freely given. We rob ourselves from experiencing the gift of God because we've convinced ourselves that we don't have it, or we don't deserve it. We steal our gift from ourselves. We kill our own joy. He that loveth not his brother abides in death. Even though we have been given life. Because we have been given the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The Spirit of truth that testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. The Spirit of truth that lets us know (and believe) that we are loved. The love receptor that equips and empowers us to receive and release the love of God. To give what we've got instead of trying to get something we think we haven't got. To be who we are instead of trying to be someone we're not. To truly live by letting God love us until that love overflows out of us. Naturally. Not TRYING to live, but living naturally. By--what else?--loving naturally!

I asked Logan what I should Rant about today (as I often do) and his answer was the same as it always is: "Love. What else?" And while I know I make mistakes... that right there makes me feel confident that I've at least got him focused on the right thing. If I had to quote a Bible verse for what's on my heart I guess it would be 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT), "Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love." There is a lot of pretty great stuff in life. Mountain Dew. Chocolate. A good book by your favorite author. But when you get right down to it, the bottom line (or, as Logan points out, the TOP line, because you put the most important thing first) is love. Love is the greatest. And while faith and hope are directly CONNECTED to love... Jesus said, "Have faith in God" and God is love... "O Lord, you alone are my hope. I've trusted you, O LORD, from childhood" (Psalm 71:5 NLT)... its all about love. Love is our faith and our hope. Every truly good story is a love story. Because love is what matters. Even the Bible is "just" one big love story. From Creator to creation. From Father to Son. From Bridegroom to bride. Love is the very center of everything. What else matters? Sure, you need money to pay bills. Sure you need food and clothing and shelter. But look at Matthew 6:31-33 (NLT), "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." The concerns of this world pale in comparision to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of LOVE. And I'm not talking about "getting" to the Kingdom on some glad morning. I'm not talking about what happens when (IF) you die. I'm not talking about seeking the Kingdom because its something you don't have but need to get. I'm talking about the exact opposite. Because the Kingdom is here. The Kingdom is now. The Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. The King of kings rules and reigns in us! We are the kings of the Kingdom. And not only that, we ARE the Kingdom. Love is not just what we do, love is who we are. Because God is love. Our Father is love. And we have His DNA. The Divine Nature of the Almighty. We don't seek the Kingdom in order to get something we haven't got. We seek the Kingdom in order to EXPLORE what we HAVE got. In order to EXPERIENCE the gift we've been given by sharing it. By giving it away. And we share the gift of love--we remain in God's love--by loving each other. We love God by loving each other. We love God because He first loved us. We live Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by letting HIM live His own life of love in us, and through us, and as us. Because to live IS to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. And what we're going to look at a little bit in this Rant series is just how central love really is. To everything. God--love--doesn't just want to be a PART of your life. He wants to BE your life because He IS life. True life. And when we're talking about living... what else matters? When we're talking about ANYTHING... its all about love. What else?

You don't have to be a bully to prove that you're strong. In fact, I think bullies are some of the weakest people around. Because its easy to pick on people. Its easy to kick people when they're down. To attack things you don't agree with. None of that takes strength. But when you're ok with someone even when they don't agree with you--even when they do things that make you angry--THAT'S real strength. Strength of character. Inner strength. Knowing who you are and being who you are. And letting people be who THEY are. Being there for people even when its not convenient, or easy. I'm telling you right now--and I've said this many times before--the hardest people to love are the people who need love the most. Because they aren't getting it anywhere else. They need someone who is strong enough to NOT demand his own way, but give them exactly what they need. Strength isn't about over powering people. It is about protecting people. Not kicking people when they're down, but lifting them up when they fall. Strength is not selfish. Strength is selfless. Because love is all powerful. Like the Incredible Hulk, love is the strongest one there is. Love can endure anything. Forgive anything. Stand up to anything without forcing itself (Himself) on anybody. When I say you should let people be who they are, I'm NOT saying you have to participate. I go by the tummy test. If something--or the THOUGHT of something--makes my tummy hurt, I'm probably not goint to do it. Another way to say that is, "Trust your gut." And another way is, "Follow your heart." If love never fails (and that is 100% true. Love NEVER fails) then following your heart will never lead you wrong. But you need to make sure you're actually listening to that still, small voice deep inside. Because following your heart is not about trying to get what you want. Love is not about getting... because love IS giving. We already have what we need. Jesus gave it to us when He gave HIMSELF to us. And here's where I want to end this Rant series: "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9). His strength is made perfect in weakness. When we can't, that's when He will. When we stop trying, and start resting, that's when God has the room, and the opportunity, to move in us, and through us, and as us. What I'm trying to say is: Our strength is HIS strength. We don't have to do it alone. Because we are NOT alone. We live in Him and He lives in us. That's that inner man. The hidden man of the heart. The true you. Not the surface stuff. Not the mistakes you've made (or the mistakes you're going to make). Its Jesus. The Word (LOVE) made flesh. GOD in the flesh. Love in a body. So we don't have to try to be someone we're not. We don't have to pretend to be strong. Or make someone else look small so we can look big and mighty. We can glory in our infirmities. We can embrace our whole selves. The good, bad, and ugly. All of the stuff that makes us... us. It takes a lot of strength to ignore the world screaming at you, telling you who you're supposed to be. But that still, small voice GIVES us strength by telling us who we already are. Who we REALLY are. Who we have always been. God in the flesh. Love in a body. Jesus. The strongest One there is!

Isn't it funny how much importance we put on first impressions? Even though at the same time we demand, "You can't judge a book by its cover." We love to label things and put them into boxes and then we expect them to stay there. But most of the time all that is is a recipe for disaster. Because people don't fit in boxes. Ogres are like onions, and so are people. We have layers. A snapshot first impression rarely tells the story. What does this have to do with strength? And more specifically inner strength? Everything. Because if you don't know who you are you can very easily fall into the trap of letting others define you. You can start to believe that you are who people say you are. You can lose yourself even when you're desperate to find yourself. Because, as the old saying goes, "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything." The lie--that you have to DO in order to BE--is easy to swallow. It makes a lot of sense to the natural mind. But our inner strength doesn't come from the natural mind. It is from within. The inner man is the hidden man of the HEART. The mind of CHRIST. And the mind of Christ knows the thoughts of God (the thoughts of LOVE). Jeremiah 29:11 is my best example of the word for word thoughts of God, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Thoughts of peace. That's what strength is really for. To maintain peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, right? They are the Son(s) of God. They are the Word (LOVE) made flesh. Not to make war--because Jesus fought and won the war to end all war on the cross--but to make peace. Solomon was a strong king because his father got rid of all of his enemies. We don't have to overcome because Jesus already overcame. We HAVE overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of His (OUR) testimony. When we know who we are. When we know that His testimony IS our testimony. His death WAS our death. His strength IS our strength. It doesn't matter what other people think or say about you. It matters what your heavenly Father thinks and says about you. "And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy'" (Matthew 3:17). That's the thoughts of peace, and not of evil. You are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. You are His dearly loved Son, who brings Him great joy. That's the expected end. Joy unspeakable. Because even though there ARE tribulations, we can be of good cheer. Not because we CAN overcome, but because Jesus HAS overcome the world. He made the valleys low and the mountains high. He is the straight and narrow way that leads to life. A life of living and loving. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. So if someone judges you... don't worry about it. Know who you are and BE who you are. Let the love that's inside come out, and watch people's opinions of you change. Its really hard to hate someone who shows you nothing but love. I think that's what the Bible means when it talks about heaping fiery coals on people's heads. Not to burn them up, or hurt them, or punish them. But to melt their hearts. True strength is turning the other cheek. Enduring. Letting people say what they're gonna say and staying true to yourself no matter what. Loving people WITHOUT judging them. Loving them anyway. It can be hard, but that's why it takes strength!

I had to look this quote up, and then when I found it it was by an unknown author. But I thnk it goes along with what I've been trying to say: "It is said that the greatest warrior is the one who never has to draw his sword." That's the thing about true inner strength, you don't have to run around showing people that you have it. And, at the same time, you aren't AFRAID to prove you have it. I think people who try to convince you that they're trustworthy probably aren't. But I think people who ARE trustworthy won't get mad at you for needing proof. God's the same way. Every time someone asked God for a miracle to prove that He is who He says He is, God was happy to provide it. I'll use Judges 6:37-40 for my example, "Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry up all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground." Actions speak louder than words, right? And even though Gideon thought God might get mad at him for asking the second time... it seems like God just shrugged His shoulders and said, "Whatever you need, my son." Because that's what love is--giving everything you are and everything you have. Not holding it back because how dare someone need it! But seeing a need and filling it. In a relationship some people use the term "whipped" for someone who goes out of their way for their significant other. And that never made sense to me. Becuase isn't the POINT of HAVING a significant other having someone you're willing to do anything for? But we get it twisted when we think we are weak. When we are only out to try to get something we think we haven't got. Or when we're afraid of losing what we HAVE got. But there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out all fear. Love is strong enough to prove itself (Himself) over and over again without getting mad about it. Love is strong enough to give exactly what people need. Precisely because they need it. One of my son's (and my dad's) favorite superheros is the Incredible Hulk. And one of his taglines is that he's the strongest one there is. But the thing about the Hulk is that he doesn't go around looking for trouble. He wants to be left alone. In our analogy, love is the Hulk. The strongest thing there is. And love is patient, and kind. Love doesn't demand His own way. Love doesn't hold the wrongs of others against them. He doesn't look for trouble. But when He finds trouble, He's strong enough to endure it. To turn the other cheek. To let people be who they are, and still give them exactly what they need. Jesus fought the final battle on the cross. And He gave us the strength to lay hold of the fruit of the His labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. He gave us a gift--the gift of eternal life--and He gave us the strength to enjoy that gift. To live His life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us!

There's an inner strength, an inner confidence, an inner peace, that comes from knowing who you are. Who you REALLY are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. Because when you know who you really are, you don't have to try to be anybody else. When you know that the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in... that's when you don't have to sweat the small stuff. Or the big stuff. When you understand that your heavenly Father is the creator of the entire universe... and that He is love... and that love is all powerful... that's when it ALL becomes little stuff. See, things are important because you make them important. That's why the same thing can mean everything to one person and nothing to the next. That's why when you know the truth, you can simply ignore the lie. Because it has no power. Love being all powerful doesn't mean love is the MOST powerful. It means love has ALL of the power. 1 John 1:5 tells us that, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." Because when the light shines the darkness can do nothing but flee. That's our strength: Not in fighting and overcoming, but in understanding that there is nothing left to overcome! When Solomon became king of Isreal the Bible tells us that, "...now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary no evil occurent" (1 Kings 5:4). The son had peace because the father had gotten rid of all adversaries and evil. Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered, right? On the cross, God arose. He remade the world in His image, consuming it in the fire that is love, and leaving nothing BUT love. Jesus said it like this, "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). We don't need to overcome, because Jesus already overcame. Our strength is not to conquer. "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). Jesus conquered so that we con't have to. He fought the war to end all wars on the cross. Which means there are no more wars to fight. The only fight left is the good fight of faith. And that's what our strength is for. For laying hold of the gift that we've been given. Believing that we are who our heavenly Father says we are. Believing that we have what our heavenly Father says we have. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying life will never throw you any curveballs. Of course it will. That's called life. In this world ye shall have tribulation. Stuff happens. But we can be of good cheer because we are strong. We are planted on the rock. And a lot of the time, that tribulation... that thing that seemed horrible... was only a step in the long and winding road to something much better. Guys, "...we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). So stop judging things "good" and "evil." Stop fighting everything and everybody. Let things be what they are. And let God lead us where He wants us to go. He's in control. Meekness is strength under control. Moving upward and Godward as we walk by faith and live by faith. As we live a life of love. Loving people no matter who they are or what they do. That can be hard, yes. But we are strong!

Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is NOT fight back. Sometimes its better to stand tall and fast, on the Rock that is our foundation, and let the winds and the rain beat against us until the storm runs out of steam. Jesus said it like this, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38-39). I think of this as the "Helping or hurting" rule. Is what you're about to do going to help the situation, or hurt it? If someone hits you, and you hit them back... guess who is hurt: everybody. But if someone hits you, true maturity is understanding that someone has probably already hit them. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. The trick is to KNOW what you REALLY have, so that you don't feel the need to give back what someone else gives you. Receive and release from your heavenly Father, not from your upset brother. And, listen, I understand that God works through people. I understand that everything someone gives you is not always going to be bad. Receiving love from people IS receiving love from God. Because God IS love. Anytime you receive love, you receive God. And every time you give love, you give God. You express Him. You show people who He is without even saying "God," or "Jesus." So I'm not saying you should never receive what people give you. Because if you're giving people love it stands to reason that someone might give YOU love. I'm simply talking about what we should do if (WHEN) that doesn't happen. And I'm saying, you can break the cycle. Someone smites you on the cheek... don't smite them back. Turn the other cheek. That sends a strong message. A message that says, "I'm not mad at you. I know you're hurting and its ok. I'm here for you, even though you lashed out at me." I like the quote, "Meekness isn't weakness, it is strength under control" because it reminds me of my pastor. I don't think I've ever seen him get mad. I'm sure he HAS gotten mad, but that's the point. He kept himself under control. The idea that "might makes right" has always kind of bothered me, for that very reason. We look at "might" as someone physically dominating someone else. And, in my opinion, there is nothing "right" about that at all. But at the same time, I think RIGHT makes MIGHT. I think when we use our strength the right way, we will be able to withstand anything. Still strong. Still standing. That's why love never fails... because love endures. You can smash up against the rock as many times as you want. The rock's not going anywhere. Eventually (hopefully) you'll knock some sense into yourself. But the point is, the rock doesn't hit back. It doesn't need to. It just needs to be what it is. WHO it is. I think this Rant series is going to be about inner strength. And I know I just quoted this verse the other day, but I'm a little bit stuck on it. "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" (Ephesians 3:16). Strengthened with might. The RIGHT kind. In the inner man. Where love lives. Because LOVE is our strength...