I just keep coming back to what Don Miller has to say about human personality since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Basically, his theory is that before the Fall, God existed in close, intimate relationship with man, and that the intimacy of His love and care affirmed His creation, and both God and man lived and loved and were completely content. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it was no longer possible for the perfect, holy Creator to exist in such close relationship with His now fallen creation, and that relationship was broken, and the peace and affirmation that man and woman once received from God was now gone. And Moses paints a perfect picture of the implications of this change when he makes the casual side note in Genesis 3: "At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness." Adam and Eve could no longer receive the affirmation from God that they had previously received, and in the absence of this affirmation, for the first time in their lives, they looked to each other for that affirmation, and it was then that they realized their differences and were ashamed.

And this simple concept still affects us SO deeply today: we humans are OBSESSED with comparing ourselves to each other! We constantly, often subconsciously, look at others and judge -- we judge them by the way they dress, the way they speak, the activities they take part in, the friends they have, their sense of humor, their intelligence (or lack thereof), and the list only goes on! We are obsessed with ranking ourselves, and even in this supposedly free society of America where we believe that all men are created equal, we are constantly finding ways to create classes and hierarchies among our peers. And we derive our self-image and self-esteem from how we rank on the charts. And this is SO far from what Christ preached, yet it is the global, fallen culture we live in, and it is, I believe, the root perversion and central lie that is the father of all forms of evil.

If everyone derived their self-worth from a perfect peace in knowing that they were accepted and loved by the only all-powerful, sovereign God of the universe, there would be no need for this comparison -- there would be no place for envy or rudeness or selfishness or pride or thievery or murder or greed. And, conversely, these sins are manifestations of the vacuum in our own souls -- of the need for affirmation, love, attention, and someone to take pride in us.

Every person is crying out for this hole to be filled in their life, and people seek to fill it through different means -- whether through sports or fashion or art or romance or popularity -- everyone is crying out to be loved and accepted for who they are.

And this is why community is so important! We are relational creatures; it's the essence of what separates us from the rest of creation! Without community -- without openness and honesty and the ability to relate closely with other people and hear and share and cry and laugh and talk and pray, we are nothing! Jesus said that our purpose on Earth -- the best and most important thing that we can do with our lives is to love God by loving others.

How are you showing others that love? Do you actively care about the struggles of your peers? Anyone can love a friend -- how are you loving those you don't get along with? What are you doing to get outside yourself and show the sacrificing, selfless love of Jesus to others? What are you giving up? How are you sacrificing?

And if it doesn't hurt you to love -- if it isn't in some way uncomfortable and even painful for you to live as you were called -- to be Christ to those around you -- are you really being Christ at all? Think about it.