Remember that moment you popped out of your mother’s womb and despite the pain, she was filled with such love and joy? Yeah, neither do I.
Legend has it, one of the first words out of my father’s mouth after I was born was, “This is better than my wedding day.”
My best friend asked me the other day why I loved her, and why I did the things I do for her, because she felt as though she was offering me nothing. I could fill a book with all the reasons she’s amazing, and the things I love ABOUT her, but instead God prompted the words, “I don’t know why I love you, I just do.” It sounds harsh, but hold on a minute, it’s far more sincere. She didn’t ask what I loved ABOUT her, she asked WHY I love her.
When did worth begin to have ANYTHING to do with love?
Somewhere between infancy and adolescence the lie, “I’m not worthy,” pierces our hearts. I hear it echoed in the voices of nearly everyone I talk to, and often in my own.
But…
Love is not earned.
And if love is not earned then there is nothing you can do to be worthy of it.
Love is received, NOT achieved.
There is something beautiful about truly loving someone, and lying down life and rights for them without expectation of getting something out of it. Love is not dependent on what we can provide to others. If you are giving love to receive it back, it is not love. Remember, love is not self-seeking
My parents’ love, perhaps the closest love I will experience to that of Father God’s was given without doing me having to do a thing. I caused my mother physical pain (and my father likely financial pains), deprived them of sleep… I gave them NOTHING… and they loved me.
And how easily we forget that BEFORE birth, our Father loved us
Does God’s love for you depend on what you can do for Him? No. God doesn’t need you. He can do everything without you, and as a matter of fact He could do it better. Yet we fail, and He still loves us. Because FREELY (meaning you have to give nothing for it) He gives (Rom. 8:32)
Does your love for God depend on what He’s doing for you? Does your love for a friend depend on what they are providing you? If it does, it’s NOT love. The people in your life were called to be there, and you were called to love them. Not RECEIVE love from them, not to find the things you love about them, but to love them…Just as Christ loves you, not because you love Him, or for the things you do for Him.
We are called to love as He has loved, and He loved freely, so freely we should love.
You, my friend, are loved. Not for the things you do, but for simply being you.
Look for Part 2 coming soon: “Who Writes Your Paycheck?” on expecting others to love you, and how it has applied to my life while on the Race.
