The mystery of who God is has been something the world has talked about since the beginning of time.
This is the way I used to think of God: If I was good, God loved me. If I was bad, God didn’t love me. In my mind, God was the scorekeeper. So I was always watching my back, trying not to do anything wrong, getting stressed out if I did anything bad, etc. It was not very much fun. I was constantly going around with a feeling of guilt, like I was the worst person in the world, wondering how God could ever love me because I could never seem to be good enough.
I don’t really know when the shift happened. I know that when I was a teenager I started questioning God and wanting to know if what I had been taught was even true. So I started on this journey of looking for God. And there’s this cool part in the Bible where God is talking to the people in Israel, who he had kind of adopted, and he said, “You will look for me and you will find me, if you look for me with all of your heart.”
So I did that, and eventually this shift happened in my thinking, where I figured out that God wasn’t really up there just waiting for me to make a mistake so he could get all mad at me. The Bible is really full of stories. It’s like 90% narrative. And reading those stories about how God interacted with people showed me that the view I had of God was kind of skewed. For example, the people in Israel, the ones God loved and took care of etc, they kept turning away from him. They decided they liked all these other gods better, but that was dumb because these gods weren’t even real. So that’s like a slap in God’s face, but he still loved them. Sometimes he punished them, but he did it because he loved them so much and wanted them to be close to him.
So reading about that made me realize that is how God is with us. That even though we do stupid stuff, and we get in trouble for that, God still loves us. In fact, he is so completely and utterly in love with us. I mean, he made us. We’re like his kids so of course he loves us.
That epiphany completely changed my life. I personally respond better to positive encouragement than negative. So figuring out that God loved me that much no matter what I did, was way better motivation to do the right thing. Because I wanted to make him proud.
So God to me is love. He’s love and he’s a life-giver and he makes my life worth living. That’s who God is to me.
What do you think? Who is God to you?
I love that everyone has different aspects of God that they love. I also think though, that sometimes people have a different and maybe skewed view of God.
There’s this story about 3 blind guys who were trying to describe an elephant. One guy was feeling the elephant’s leg and so he described the elephant as a tree. One guy was feeling the trunk so he described the elephant like a water hose. One guy was feeling the tail and described the elephant like a rope. And that story makes me laugh because I wonder what the elephant was thinking that whole time. And if he was like, “Dude, you’re right, but you still have no idea! You’re missing out on all of me!”
I sort of think God is like that. He’s up there saying, “No, this is the real me! I wish you could see.” But the difference between an elephant and God is that God has the ability to let us see. He wants us to see him for who he is, and he’ll show us. We just have to ask him and look for him. Because when we look for him with our whole heart, when we’re consumed with wanting to know who God is…that’s when we’ll find him.
My little sister wrote this on the back of two receipts. I think it captures the concept of "true love."
------
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
He wants me. He will accept me. I am not condemned.
How. How could he love me? I don't deserve it. I break promises, I think mean thoughts towards people, I slack off. I am a human. Despicable.
Therefore. There. Is. Now. No. Condemnation. For. Those. Who. Are. In. Christ. Jesus.
He loves me. Without condition. Unconditional? Wow.
What wondrous love is this? A love so perfect? I don't understand. Why? Doesn't he get tired of loving a human race that is so imperfect, so fickle, so perverse?
Therefore! There! Is! Now! No! Condemnation! For! Those! Who! Are! In! Christ! Jesus!
[part 2]
He loves us.
We break His heart.
He loves us.
We turn our backs.
He loves us.
We put him in a closet.
He loves us.
We hang him on a cross.
He loves us.
We persecute his lost sheep.
He loves us.
We say, "There is no God."
He loves us.
What can separate us from His love?
Nothing.
Absolutely Nothing.
Romans 8:38-39
You love me!
When I break Your heart,
and turn my back,
and put You in a closet,
and hang You on a cross!
and persecute your lost sheep,
and say, "There is no God."
Thank You for loving me then.
Thank You for loving me now.
Thank You for loving me tomorrow.
And forever.
He loves me.
-------
God is especially fond of you. In fact, he is desperately, emphatically, and completely in love with you.
Even if you tell him he doesn't exist. Even if you decide you don't care. Even if you know what's right and choose to do wrong. He loves you.
So why do things go wrong? A father will discipline the child he loves. But he does it to teach the child the best way to live.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can get to God except through me."
He didn't mean that one religion is better than all the other religions. He meant that following him is the best possible way to live. You can't have true and full life without him. You can't get to God without him. He's the best way.
Thinking about how much God loves me makes me want to love him back just as much. His love is irresistable.
