Over the past 4 months or so, I've been working through Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy. Every day, I'm struck by something in this book. The stuff that it's teaching is affecting me at a really core level of how I think about my faith, my world and what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. I read something today that flipped on end something I've always thought about 1 Corinthian 13, the chapter in the bible that gives us this huge, all encompassing definition of what love is. When I read this, I always felt like I need to strive towards all of these great qualities to be a loving person. Here's what I read:

People usually read this and are taught to read it, as telling them to be patient, kind, free of jealousy and so on - just as they read Jesus' Discourse (sermon on the mount referred to earlier in the book) as telling them to not call others fools, not look on a woman to lost, not to swear, to go the second mile, and so forth. But Paul is plainly saying - look at his words - that it is love that does these things, not us, and that what we are to do is to "pursue love" (1 Cor 14:1). As we "catch" love, we then find that these things are after all actually being done by us. These things, these godly actions and behaviors, are the result of dwelling in love. We have become the kind of person who is patient, kind, free of jealousy, and so on. Paul's message is exactly the same as Jesus' message.

This was probably perfectly clear to everyone else, but it struck me.