Of Love and other Conundrums

"I haven't been doing too well," she softly confided, "I'm distracted when I pray, and I'd honestly rather be watching TV than reading my Bible. I haven't done my devotions all week!" She gripped the stirring wheel and sighed. "I'm sure that God is unhappy with me."

I was glad for the darkness of the vehicle as I settled back in my seat and bit my lip, deciding how to reply. Flash backs of Sunday mornings and women's conferences and youth devotionals ran through my head.
"Jesus' love is greater than your sin!" they all screamed at me, and I struggled to communicate this fact to my guilt-laden friend in one pointed, knock-out comment.

I failed.

As the stammered syllables slipped out of my mouth and fell flat at my feet (something about Jesus loving us in spite of our neglected quiet times), I desperately wished to snatch back the hollow words that resounded with the hollowness in my soul.


I'll be honest with you. The love of God is a doctrine I've always had trouble swallowing. I prefer to keep this fact under wraps (except for when I admit it in very public places...like the internet), but it is a truth that permeates my life. Divine love is a doctrine that makes my head spin and has very nearly drowned me in confusion.

Let me show you this Love Doctrine the way I see it.
Let's take a look at a highly hypothetical situation.


Picture....
picture a man. Let's make him a really, really handsome one. In fact, picture a man that has literally fallen out of your favorite childhood fairy tale book. The Prince Charming you've been drooling over since you were five.

Got him pictured? Good. Now, imagine that not only is he charming, he's kind. He's gentle. He's talented. He's brilliant. Everyone and their cousin is head over heals for this guy. And you...well, you're just average old you.

Now (as the hypothetical plot builds) imagine him knocking on your door. As you open it, he drops to one knee and pulls out a ring.

"I've been watching you," he says gently, "I've been waiting for the right moment to approach you."

"Me?" you squeak.

"I want you to know that I love you passionately and am completely committed to you. I want you with me now and forever."
Your heart begins to pound in your chest. Your head goes light with the thrill of unbelief. Then he continues.

"You've done nothing but hurt me again and again. All you deserve is my anger and bitterness. You are arguably one of the most disgusting creatures imaginable. But I have chosen to love you. I am choosing to make you my own."
{{romantic crescendo comes to an abrupt stop}}

This is the love story that I read about in my Bible. It's called the gospel. I've tweaked it, perhaps made it totally unbelievable, but the message is still there. A perfect Man surrenders all He holds dear for the love of the wretches He calls His own. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

I don't understand this kind of love. Bluntly, I don't WANT this kind of love. It has nothing to do with me. In fact, it exists in spite of me. It doesn't play to my vanity. This love demands the surrender of my own self-love.

Perhaps it is C.S. Lewis who put it the best:

"Whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little."

This is indeed an intolerable compliment to us "me-centered" human beings. No wonder we work so desperately to earn the love of Jesus, rather than basking in it.

Upon opening my laptop this morning, I was bombarded with love themes.
It's Valentines Day.
Flowers, chocolate, love songs. It's all there. And suddenly, I realize where my twisted view of love has come from.


Romantic love means someone loves me because I do certain things or make them feel a certain way.
Ro-mance: [n., adj] noun characterized by a preoccupation with love or by the idealizing of love or one's beloved.

Unconditional love means I am loved in spite of what I do.
Un-con-di-tion-al: adjective absolute, without limitations, without variation

Jesus is the ultimate Lover. When we finally come to the realization that nothing we do can make Him love us more or less, it will not result in complacency, believe me. It will result in a passionate, love-induced zeal.

I have found comfort in an old hymn. It goes like this.
"Lay your deadly doing down,
Down at Jesus' feet.
And stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete."


Let's all take that challenge this Valentine's Day. As we take in all the messages the world is shooting at us about love, let's remember our Lover who's love is without condition. Lay your deadly doing down.

You will fail again.
You will continue to sin.
You will neglect your Bible and forget to pray.
Let these imperfections teach you to bask in the unconditional love of Jesus.

In Him, you are complete.


posted by Lydia