Value #1 The passion to know, love, and become like Jesus Christ.
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
(Colossians 1:18)
To say that Jesus is our #1 value is a huge understatement. Making Jesus the center of our lives is not only the #1 value, it is the one value on which all other values hinge. Jesus must be our all consuming passion in life. Here are a few reason why:
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
(Colossians 1:18)
To say that Jesus is our #1 value is a huge understatement. Making Jesus the center of our lives is not only the #1 value, it is the one value on which all other values hinge. Jesus must be our all consuming passion in life. Here are a few reason why:
· He deserves our passion (Rom 5.8, Eph 1.20-21)
· Nothing else is worthy of our passion (1 Cor 2.2, Phil 3.8)
· There is no passion without Him (Rom 11.36, 1 Cor 8.6, Col 1.17)
Our passion is expressed in knowing, loving, and becoming like Jesus. We aggressively seek knowledge about the King of kings by reading His Word (esp. the Gospels, Rom 10.17, Col 3.16), talking to others about Him (1 Jn 1.3), through the Holy Spirit (Jn 14.26, 1 Jn 2.27), and experiencing Him in our circumstances (Rom 8.28-29). We love Him by placing Him first in our lives through trust and obedience (Jn 6.29, 14.15). This is almost always tested by the way we treat people (1 Jn 4.20). To stop short of becoming like Him denies our real knowledge of and love for Him (1 Jn 2.6). We must become like Jesus by applying our information about Him and our adoration for Him into emulation of Him. This ultimately is what we were designed to do and glorifies God the Father.
Our passion must always be refocused on its intended target, Jesus Christ (Heb 12.2). As *Pastor Carlton Weathers said in his sermon yesterday, “Jesus is not category A and the rest of life falls into the other categories. He is A to Z. He is my life and everything else is subservient to Him. Do not compare any of your other priorities with Him.” It is a daily battle to remember this and to realign our lives so that He is our all. Passion must have an object and the only one worthy of our passion in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is Master, King, and Savior.
*Grace Fellowship Community Church, Anniston, AL
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