On Becoming Love, Part II – Dan Mohler

God is love. All other adjectives that describe Him come from His love. God didn’t send His Son because of His majesty, He did this because of His love; that’s what makes His majesty.

[Amazed, holding up his Bible] The truth made flesh: it’s not letters on a page, it’s not words in a book! This book is alive, it’s Christ, it’s life! The word made flesh, Love revealed! 

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus cut covenant with men; He had foreknowledge that all the sheep would scatter, but He still broke that bread and His lip didn’t quiver, because He is Love.

And what are our actions? On the night we’re betrayed we feel betrayed, call a friend, and cry, proving that we don’t understand the gospel, even though we see our need for a savior.

Jesus did not shed His blood just to get you to heaven; He shed His blood to get heaven back inside of you, and to replace that old dying thing with Life: Him! It’s called your nature! You know, you’re waiting to go to heaven, but it’s here, in you: the kingdom of heaven is in you. Come on, you’re not just waiting for a trumpet to blow and a bus to come and take you to escape the earth! [Audience laughs]

I travel a lot and know there’s a false mindset out there that says Jesus shed His blood to forgive us and to take us to heaven. No, Jesus shed His blood to restore you back to original value, to get you back to His image so that you can fulfill what you were created for so that it’s as if you never ate that fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and live righteous before God and walk in power and follow Jesus! If we’re not careful we’ll reduce that to attend “church” and church-shop instead of just become like Him.

How many Christians have you met that talk about what’s wrong with people instead of talking about what’s right with Christ in them? If you did that you’d be laying down your life to just become the best. You say, “But Dan, somebody has to hold them accountable.” Well, it’s certainly not you when you have that attitude!

Look, you don’t even have authority if you don’t have love! You’ll be trapped in right vs. wrong, and you’ll miss the heart of God by a million miles. I promise you, you don’t want God to judge you apart from love! So why would you judge a human being apart from Him? Come on, understand that I’m not correcting you, I’m just having a family meeting with you, a pep talk.

Until this truth transforms our lives, there’s something we’ve got to see, and I promise you, the only way you’re going to see it is by being alone with Him. My big heart cries for God-reality in our lives through intimacy with Jesus through the person of Holy Spirit. And guys, we must talk to Him, yield ourselves to Him when nobody’s looking.

You must get alone with Him and say, “It’s a gift to be on this earth, and I’m done with complaining about my life. God, life is a gift; I’ve got this little window, let it matter. Holy Spirit, teach me to follow Jesus! I’m just done complaining.”

If you’re complaining, who is your life about? I can show you where you’re not to complain as they complain, coz then you’ll just be devoured by the devourer, destroyed by the destroyer. I can show you in Philippians 2 that we’re following Jesus and doing ALL things without grumbling and without complaining so that the world sees us as harmless and innocent children in the midst of a perverse generation. If that wasn’t possible it wouldn’t be in your Bible.

What makes you different than them, “holier than thou” as the world will accuse you of? The difference is you don’t complain, because it’s not about you.

It’s simple, guys: if we’re the Church and we’re walking in discouragement, frustration, complaining, and broken-heartedness, our eyes are still on ourselves, and we’re just hoping God can fix things and change things FOR us instead of CHANGE US. You can get trapped coming to “church” for what God can do FOR you instead of to make you more like Him.

There’s a place where God wants to sow radically His nature, His love, His mercy, His loving-kindness. It’s a beautiful holy amazing place: you! People see that you’re being done wrong in an area, and it’s driving them crazy that you’re not DOING anything about it! But in time they realize why you aren’t, and they realize you’re not a doormat and a pushover. They realize you’re not moved by things like that because you’re not considering you – you’ve got a way bigger picture!

Next thing you know, you look like Jesus! And the people who watch you have got two options: put you on a cross, or get born again, because you gave them a real good look at Truth, and you actually put them in the position to say, “I want to become love,” or “I don’t.”

You want to pull people into accountability with the truth of your life lived. You want your life to shine so beautifully that it draws people into the beauty of God, so they realize that if that grace can be in you, that grace can be in them.

It’s the greatest way to evangelize on the planet: becoming love! 

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This is the second part of a series of my partial transcript/excerpts of a two hour-long video of Dan Mohler posted on YouTube entitled “Being Transformed into the Image of Jesus Christ, Part 1 of 4“ – modified somewhat for readability (segment 13:40 – 23:05).