Mark 12:28-31

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Is it deeds? Does God want my money and time? Does he want me to not look at girls? Does he want me to put on a face and speak words to people day after day? Buck up, be strong, don’t show how you feel, walk the walk, clean the dishes, read your bible, lay your life down, die to yourself, give up your rights.

No. Leave me alone. Can I have one thing to myself? For me? Is it always others, others, others? Don’t touch this, don’t do that.

But I imagine, if God wanted precious children to act like pharisees, he wouldn’t have told them that their real father was the devil. God wants us to say 'no' to sin and pursue his love because he wants all of our hearts, and the return of his lost children.

My faith becomes a joke when I slip away from God’s real doctrine. He is the beginning and end all of why things are the way they are and why he requires what he requires.

If Christianity is only about dying all day long in order to be moral and to strive for righteousness, then I’m already screwed and there’s no way I want any part of it. If it's about a loving relationship with our Father, a creator who died for my wretchedness and adultery, and the only real love out there to be had, then sign me up no matter the cost.