Embracing Love...

They are the most quoted verses in the Bible..."For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not die but have everlasting life." John 3:16. You've seen the banners at sporting events for decades. If you went to church at all while growing up, you've memorized these verses. If you have ever sought out God's mercy...you probably drove down this street at one point. But rarely to do we stop to stare at these words.

How profound they are...God's love moved him to action. That action was to move heaven and hell (literally) in order to create a way for us (created humanity) to enter into a love relationship with him. God's greatest revelation of himself is the characteristic of love.

Then how did he get the reputation of being mean-spirited? How did we begin thinking that we need to measure up before we win his approval? Oh, yeah...because that's how we do things...

We tell girls that as they grow up, they will find love when they are pretty.
We tell boys that they will find love and value when they produce something of worth.
We tell our children that they are move loved when they succeed or do what we want. We don't mean to (usually), but it's easy to slip into that message.


Somewhere, somehow, we learned that if we are to have value, it will come as we do something to deserve it. So when we are offered pure love and we know we don't deserve it...it's pretty hard to take. We smack at the extended hand as if to say, "Show me what's behind your back. What's the trick." And even when He says, "No trick...just my love." We still look at Him with suspicion.

But there's not trick. There is just love. I don't deserve it. Neither do you. Why? I don't know for sure. The safey of receiving his love isn't in understanding it, but in basking in it.

What makes it hard for you to receive God's love? What does it look like for you to receive it?

What a perfect gift...Merry Christmas.

M@