"Born Corrupted"

"Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalms 53:3) It's not every day that you get to gain some understanding about what is real or not real; unless you are really going through something very difficult, you usually don't see the things that really matter, at least not as you should. Something happened in my heart thirty three years ago, something that changed the course of history; not only my history, but the history of many more people; some of which I know, and some I have never met, at least not yet anyways. As I was praying about this verse, I could not help but think about some of those that I let down over the years; the ones that I did not obviously care so much about, at least not enough to make a difference, and try a little harder to show them the love of Christ. That's really what it's all about; never mind that we need to love God, and we need to love one another, Jesus told us to love our enemies also. Not only did He say to love them, but we are to go the extra mile for them; which basically means that we are to put a little extra effort into showing them the love of Christ, like giving them the other cheek to slap, while at the same time praying for their eternal soul. No doubt, it is really hard to follow the "Golden Rule", but God will never ask us to do anything that we are not capable of doing; including those things which are otherwise impossible to do. When Jesus was introducing this new concept of love, He used something interesting to start of the dialog, saying, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy" (Matthew 5:43). It's not as though this was not the way things were, because they were, they had to be, because there was just no other way for man to react in his fallen state; there had to be a tipping scale for love hate relationships, at least prior to Jesus showing us the way. Being born corrupted by sin, we all were born naturally filled with hatred, or the natural ability to hate. Call it survival, if you will; but the point is, we all had been born with the nature that looks out for number one, meaning ourselves; and right out of the gate, we started separating those that we liked and disliked, those that we loved and those that we hated. When Jesus Christ shows up, all of that changes; at least it is meant to change us! The real challenge that we face, each and every day of our life, is to determine what is real and what is not real; real is the love of Christ, which is a love that loves them who have crucified you, even while they are doing it; not real, is that your fellow man is your enemy... "Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then heir of God through Christ. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" (Galatians 4:1-9)