In our early days and months of dating, Sam and I attended a Christian conference in Orlando, Florida. The group we went with had attended in years past and gushed about the “impartation of the Holy Spirit” and the depth of the spiritual encounters they all had in the past with such a host of well-known speakers and church organizations that would come together to put on this event. Over the course of four days, however, it became clear to us that all the hype was just that… hype. Each speaker in the lineup boasted of their works and the accomplishments of their ministries. They spoke of healing and impartation of spiritual gifts and delivering from addictions.

When we enter into a relationship with God, we truly learn about ourselves. Being in union with our creator forces us to be self-aware and allows us to evolve into our true identity each and every day. In this process, we sometimes face a lot of hard truths about who we are and how we can act. We see the ugly that lies within us.

How is it that this is one of the simplest messages in the gospel, yet we still can’t seem to grasp it? Trust me, I’ve done it, and still do. Sometimes, we read certain passages so much that we gloss over them. But we can’t allow our head knowledge to rob us of heart knowledge. So if you read today’s key verse and immediately checked out, then I need you to reposition your heart, because I can promise you, none of us have figured out how to carry out these commandments the way Jesus did. No matter how many Sunday school lessons you sat through, no matter how many episodes of VeggieTales you’ve watched, these lessons are never done learning.