imagine.type.live.love.

I was thinking the other day. It was a Sunday that I was doing this...thinking! Christianity is really quite simple once you get past the initial hump of believing that Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection are an atonement for our sins. You know the rest. But after that, that's where it gets simple--by simple, I merely mean in principle. For in principle, Christianity is the belief that Jesus (actually GOD) came down to earth, this firmament between hell and the heavenly realm, and sacrificed himself for us. Now, that sounds like a whole book; well, it is--the Bible. However, I'm not trying to explain or discuss that; I'm trying discuss the simplicity of being or living as a Christian. Listen! The Bible speaks of and illustrates sacrifice. An example is found in Romans 12:1 -

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. - The Message courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

So, clearly I, we, everyone, should, being Christian, give up everything to GOD. Our every breath. Our every second of thought or idea. However, sacrifice comes with its unforgettable partner--love. Love is so special and so filling. Yet, it is the one which I find the most difficult. We are to love for it says in 1 Corinthians 13:3 -

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. - The Message

Giving up everything is--everything. We have to love. But, however, to find a contentment in life, I find the we have to let go of everything--loved ones, loved things, everything. Some people find this hardest. I find the love to be hardest. Willing to cherish all others above myself. That takes such consciousness and continual attention; this is why I often neglect love. It's something to work on--sure enough!