Honoring my Father

For almost a month, I've been back home with my parents in Louisville. It's been great to spend some time with them after being away in Maryland for awhile and before being away in Bolivia for another while. My dad and I have been training together for a road race in Oregon in a couple weeks. Between gasps for air he often finds enough energy and Oxygen to share valuable wisdom. So valuable that I couldn't keep the Gospel according to Dad to myself...

"God loves us so we can love others, and reflect His love to them.

Before we did anything to deserve it we received God's love through the cross, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8. After such a generous gift, it would be redundant and ungrateful to work for God's love. But embracing His love causes us to want to love others.

Under the law of the old covenant, our deeds tried to earn us righteousness, but since Christ brought us grace our deeds now result from righteousness. There is a huge difference between trying to earn someone's approval and serving out of gratitude for what they have done for you. We don't have to please God by our actions, we are pleasing to God just by believing that."

My own actions here and plans for the future center around serving out of gratitude for that ultimate act of service Jesus did for us. His overwhelming love compels me to love others. It has been such a blessing to be filled up here through family and friends this summer so that I'll be overflowing with agape for His people in South America.

"Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding." -Proverbs 4:1

Feliz Cumpleanos, Papa!