I've been rereading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. (I highly recommend it!) I've been convicted and challenged to love God and people differently. God offered me (and you) love that we struggle to comprehend and sometimes have a hard time receiving. John 3:16...For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Romans 5:8...But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I John 4:9-10...This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Let the reality of God's love sink deeply into your heart and spirit. Amazing love...undeserved and yet given freely. All we have to do is receive it. It is so easy, and yet we make it so difficult! We try to fill the hole in us that can only be filled with Jesus' love with human love. We try to earn God's love. We forget how blessed we are to be on the receiving end of Divine Love.
The challenge that has been placed in front of me is to love God with all my heart, all my mind, and all my strength and to love people with the "crazy love" of God. I want to give God the best of me...my time, my attention, my worship. I want to wholeheartedly love people with out expectation of reciprocation and to love even those who dislike me. And this is where I fall apart. I have been given a great gift...the ability to love without limits...but I expect others to love the same way and I am disappointed. God is teaching me to love HIS way...freely and wholeheartedly...and to let Him protect my heart from hurt. I am choosing God's way...to love Him with all that I am and to let His love flow freely through me!
