But I Say

I just finished a long excerpt (is that an oxymoron?) of the epic poem La Araucana.  One little check mark box checked off.  Yay, me.

This is something that stuck with me today at church.  After giving the Beatitudes, Jesus goes on this whole, "You have heard ____, but I say_____" riff throughout the rest of Matthew 5.

Again, I've heard this stuff time and time again, but today, something really stayed with me.  "You have heard" so many things: What the Law said, what the facts are, what the statistics say, what someone else is doing, how everybody else is living . . . just fill in the blank.

"But I say" is such a powerful counterstatement.   What really matters are His words.  What has He declared?  What is He telling you to do?

It's easy for me to believe what I hear from others.  It's easy for me to trust in what the facts and statistics say.  It's easy for me to rely on my logic.  It's easy for me to compare myself to others and feel that I'm lacking.

"But I say."  Whose words hold weight here?  Who am I going to choose to listen to?  Whose words are going to determine my actions?  Whose words determine my worth?  What did I say?