Stay in Love with Jesus

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5) 
 
As a believer, there is only one way that you can live in this world and not be part of it. Here it is: “Stay in love with Jesus!”  He is the only One who will help you balance your life and live your life for His Kingdom in this world! He will give you the ability to disconnect from the world and its values, and not be part of it.  
 
When I pastored a church in Houston, a person came up to me after church and said something. He asked, “Is a certain person part of your church family?” I said, “Yes.” He happened to be a physician who was part of our church. This person said, “I was at a board meeting last week and I heard him talk in some of the most profane language I have ever heard any man say in public. If that's the kind of member you have, I don't know if I want to be part of your church. He is such a hypocrite!” I looked at him and said, “Thanks for sharing that with me, but I want you to know that we love hypocrites in this church. We want them to come into our church, to keep them off the streets! You know that's important.”  
 
I meant every word of that when I said it and I still mean it to this day. I love having hypocrites walk into our church, but that doesn’t mean that it’s okay to remain a hypocrite. We need the Lord’s help to live consistently with what we profess and believe.  
 
Many people in today's culture know men and women who struggle with hypocritic behavior. Maybe you struggle with it yourself. When you are out in the world, you want to talk like the world and live like the world. You don't want to seem different, but God calls you to be different. He calls you to live your life differently. The only way this will be possible is for you to stay in love with Jesus.  
 
What does staying in love with Jesus entail? God wants you to be real. He doesn't want you to be fake. He doesn't want you to play a game and wear one mask here and another mask there. You distort yourself so much that you forget who you really are in Christ. He wants you to be real. He wants you to be really in love with Jesus.