40 Centimeters Short

The most difficult and almost insurmountable section of the narrow path to Heaven is quite short. If measured with a meter, it would be about 40 cm, and many followers of Christ have not been able to overcome it or even tried, believing that such a difficult path is beyond their strength, and the Lord should somehow transport them to the destination Himself.

This section of the road begins between my right and left ear and is directed towards my heart. 40 cm is not much in physical terms, but in the spiritual dimension, it can be cluttered with all kinds of fears, stereotypes, complexes, feelings of guilt and duty, lies, self-love, pride, selfishness, and other garbage from the arsenal of the evil one. Lucifer was the first being to fall on this short stretch. And he is still there, having not passed this amazingly difficult distance.

If you look at this section in an open area and fresh air, there are no visible problems with passing it. But if there is a thick wall between points A and B, as high as Heaven and infinitely wide, which I build myself, then passing this distance becomes impossible.

The Lord knows this peculiarity of thinking, when the mind understands, the heart agrees, but the will does not allow anything to change. I know people who have left the church brotherhood, believing that they can overcome everything alone and prove to everyone that they are right, and they will succeed better. But somehow, in my opinion, all this looks cold and alienated, and I don't really want to be in such company. Such people know the truth, see a lot, but for some reason, it's very gloomy and uncomfortable with them. They are like icicles, sometimes looking very beautiful, transparent, and unusual, but in terms of life taste, they are inedible, tasteless, and very cold.

The principle of a burning fire is known to many. Logs stacked together burn very cheerfully and brightly, but if you take a brightly burning ember out of the fire and put it nearby, it will soon go out. And if you put it back into the fire, it will flare up with new force in a cheerful company and will give all its warmth and light to others.

In God's church, there are also many representatives of the class with similar thinking struggling with themselves. They were present in Jesus' time, and we even know that they were called scribes, legalists, and Pharisees. Although these names themselves were the pride of that time, now they are perceived as something common. God's church in our days also has similar comrades who cannot overcome these important 40 centimeters, and to somehow hide their powerlessness, they begin to invent all sorts of explanations and justifications, defending their behavior and way of thinking. And sometimes it doesn't look like a justification, but as that point of view or opinion which is true, and everything else is wrong.

In the message to Laodicea, the Lord calls such people by name, not hiding His disgust, but at the same time, He points out the way out, offering to buy from Him what is very valuable in the eyes of Heaven and transforms everything in life and relationships. Moreover, the Faithful Witness assures us that His love and friendly attitude continue to exist towards those who will enter into trade relations with Him.

But in all this, I personally need to figure it out. It is human nature to see the shortcomings of others and attribute our own sins to them, so I can consider myself someone important and in this light belittle the essence of my neighbors. Jesus taught that a tree is known by its fruit. And the taste of my fruit can be very easily determined. When I think that I love someone and boldly say so, then I should pay attention to how this person relates to my words and whether my attitude pleases them.

Of course, if a person is led by a different spirit, then even in the love of Christ Himself, he will not see anything good for himself, but will roll everything in the mud of his heart. But if this someone is your close friend, with whom you have agreed on love and friendship, then, as I understand it, he should see this love and friendship in you, receiving blessings from it. You will experience exactly the same. This works very well for everyone who has an active hormonal system that quickly reacts to a kind attitude towards oneself and injects all kinds of happiness and joy hormones into the blood. But such experiences, although good, are short-term, because the will, mind, and heart also want to have constant blessings from love and friendship.

Love immerses the friend's mind in a country of peace and friendliness. The soul immediately feels a pleasant atmosphere and begins to open up, trying to determine the boundaries within which it will be safe.

If my loving friend decides to make me not happy, but good, then protective mechanisms are immediately activated, and relationships are blocked until true intentions are clarified.

Although we are all imperfect, and there will always be something in character that needs to be replaced or repaired, but when a beloved friend starts to do this, then my whole being resists, and I first ask the close one not to do this, and then I set boundaries in communication, beyond which I don't let them. Then, to somehow rehabilitate myself in the eyes of a friend, I myself begin to point out their shortcomings, making it clear that they are just as imperfect a person. And what do we come to? Instead of love and friendship, we begin to engage in upbringing, teaching, and distributing valuable advice and instructions on how to live better, and what is good and what is bad.

And this "snowball" of our relationships becomes so big and heavy that as it continues to move, it absorbs not only clean snow but also all the dirt that carelessly rested under the cover of love and friendship. And, of course, I will always be right in my own eyes, because I do everything out of the motives of my love and expect the same from a friend.

The Pharisees were very good people, and they wanted to have equally good friends. And all their disciples also strived for this. And a whole popular movement was formed in which everyone knew their place and did not claim anything else. But Jesus came and began to treat human rules and traditions very contemptuously. And the worst thing is, He did not want to become good, according to the opinion of the "specialists of that time," but offered the world a different model of relationships. For three and a half years, He taught inveterate egoists the science of love, and then even gave them a commandment to consciously observe it. The disciples at first did not understand what was wanted of them, but when the Teacher was gone, then the Holy Spirit reminded them of many examples of true attitudes within the framework of love and friendliness. Do we really have to wait until our earthly friend dies to see our true spirit and recognize our imperfection?

The most valuable thing in this world is what we can take with us to Heaven. There, everyone will be fine and there will be no temptations, but it's worth learning to be a loving friend here and now.

If I start demonstrating my holiness to my neighbor, I risk losing something very valuable in relationships that my righteousness cannot restore. But if I show my friend my imperfect love and my sincere desire to do everything possible to make him feel good from it, he will like it more.

Questions for reflection on this chapter:

1. Please read Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Romans 7:13-25; Revelation 3:14-22; Psalm 51:10-13; 78:34-39; 139:23-24; Proverbs 2:10-16; 3:5; 4:23-27; 12:23; 15:28; 17:17; 18:24; 27:17; Ezekiel 36:26-27; James 3:13-18 in light of this chapter.

2. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

3. What did you understand from this chapter?

4. How to understand if I love a friend as the Lord wants to see it?

5. Can I deceive myself by declaring my love for others?

6. Why shouldn't we point out a friend's shortcomings and mistakes? Proverbs 17:9.

7. Do you think your love should gladden your friend's heart?

8. What could be the reason if I constantly quarrel with the one I decided to love?

9. What is the difference between love for each other and love for enemies?

10. Do you know how to bring joy to your friends? If yes, share this experience?

11. Does Heaven rejoice seeing how we love each other?

12. Why do even friends who love each other have conflicts and disagreements?

13. If my friend doesn't think the same way I do, should I prove my rightness to him?

14. What to do if I see that my friend wants to make me not happy, but good?

15. Is it worth starting a friendship if there are so many unclear trials in it?

Address to the reader:

Dear friend. Thank you for dedicating your precious time to read this book. I hope that you learned something new and took something useful for yourself. I hope that all the Bible verses were also read by you, and if this has not happened yet, then I ask you to pay attention to the Biblical foundation of what you read in this book.

If you have feedback, questions, wishes, or anything else, you can contact me in any way convenient for you, and I will definitely answer.

You can find me on Facebook.

Email: info@otkrovenie.de

Website:www.otkrovenie.de;www.karpekin.de

You can find this book and my other works on the website:

www.proza.ru/avtor/bauarbeiter

May the Lord bless you!

Andrey K.