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The Life Giving Principle

The Life Giving Principle

Have you ever had one of those “aha” moments where FINALLY someone has been able to articulate a thought you’ve had that you couldn’t quite put together? I had that “light bulb” moment (as Oprah calls it) this weekend at our incredible “Access Granted” pastors weekend at Next Level Church.  This was a phrase that we heard the pastors, leadership, and volunteer teams using over and over again that just stuck with me. This phrase was “life giving.” It came in contexts such as this: “we would not do that again, even though it was good, because it violated our life giving principle,” or “is this life giving” or “we want to model our life giving principle.”

The question I asked myself is WHY did this phrase stick out so much to me? Why is this so relevant? I realized, after some prayer and thinking, that it’s one of the things I am most passionate about yet never had a right type of verbage to explain it. I would use words such as being “positive” or “upbeat” but they always failed to fully explain the feeling I had towards something, someone or a situation. This phrase just nailed it on the head!

As I pondered this principle and how I can implement this into my own life, marriage, family and church I realized that these two words-life giving-are centered strongly on some of the deepest roots of Christianity. Jesus said in John 10:10”I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full...” Jesus, the very son of God, died on a cross for one purpose…to give us LIFE! He IS the principle of being life giving. So why is the church at times or believers at times so at odds with being the model of this gospel principle?  I believe it’s because they’ve missed one of the main points of the gospel-to be LIFE GIVING in all that we say and do. Yes, Jesus is the way to eternal salvation and life more abundantly here on earth-but we, as believers, are to be his living models of this in the present. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:20 (the message) “We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for God today…”

So wherever you are at today, whether you find yourselves at odds with someone, frustrated about something, or just plain worn out and tired out from the things of life, I encourage you in this. Find a way to live out this life giving principle towards those around you. Consider your speech towards or about others-is the way you're talking violate this gospel principle? Consider how can you begin, with your words and behaviors, to breathe "life" back into that relationship or situation. Whether it is easy or one of the most difficult things to do, start to implement this gospel principle of being “life giving” and you will find that another Biblical principle will come back and encourage you. Proverbs 11:25 (The Message (MSG) ²⁵ The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.”