Talk

Holiness, Love, and Mildew

May 7, 2023

The Mosaic Law doesn’t only have implications for our vertical relationship with God, it contains important principles to guide our horizontal relationships with each other. Ben Stuart examines some of the ways that the moral law is meant to help forge a healthy community through personal responsibility and abundant generosity.

Key Takeaway

Structure is not the antithesis of freedom.

  1. Holiness looks like love. If you want to be holy, like Jesus, you love your neighbor as yourself.

  2. Love looks like personal responsibility. If someone snuck in your house and put mildew on your wall, how long would it take for you to tell the community? For the sake of the community, you do what's right. You acknowledge the mildew instead of putting a picture over it to hide it. You keep diseases that are festering from hurting God's people.

  3. Love looks like generosity with your abundance. Don't clean the edges. When you have an abundance, don't gather it all for yourself. Leave things behind for others to take. Leave harvest everywhere for people who had different tragedies than your own.

"God created structure that wasn't stifling, it was actually forms that gave purpose, and meaning, and flourishing to life."
Ben Stuart

Discussion Questions

    1. What are some ways you can love others better?

    2. Do you think you love people as you love yourself?

    3. Why do you think taking personal responsibility for the mildew in your life is so hard?

    4. How have you allowed mildew to spread in your own life?

    5. How can you be better about acknowledging the mildew and taking action?

    6. Do you consider yourself to be in a state of abundance?

    7. If you are in a state of abundance, how can you leave a harvest for others?

    8. How can you be generous if you aren't in a state of abundance?


Scripture References


About the Contributor
Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime. View more from the Contributor.