For the past 8 weeks or so I have been attending a women's bible study at our old church. It's Breaking Free by Beth Moore and it has been...life-changing.
Last night during her video session she was talking about loving God...and really digging deep in asking us, much like Jesus asked Peter, if we really love God.
I have always thought that I truly loved God. But last night, as Beth dug deeper and deeper, I realized that I don't. I mean, I DO. I DO love God. But not the way that I want to love Him. Not the way that He deserves to be loved.
I was shaken...in a good way. Coming to the realization that I don't love God like I thought I did was a good thing. It was enlightening. Not condemning. It made me want to dig deeper and allow God to penetrate my heart so that I can love Him better. Fully. With my whole heart.
During the video session Beth has the viewer fill in blanks in the workbook as she speaks. And one of the blanks was very simply....God is love. Just like that. Simple.
We've all seen it, right? On t-shirts, coffee mugs, bumper stickers. And to be honest, because it is everywhere, I often overlook it.
I overlook those three simple words...God is love. I dismiss them. Not in a way that I don't believe them. More in a prideful way of, "Well yeah He is. Everyone knows that."
But as I wrote those three little words in my workbook it was as if a shock went through from my hand to my heart to my mind to my soul and suddenly I truly realized...GOD IS LOVE.
So simple. Yet so incredibly profound.
God is love. And without Him, we are incapable of loving.
So. Now what?
Admittedly, I have been in a spiritual slump for a good long while now. I'm stuck. So I think the place to start is a simple prayer...thanking God for loving me and asking Him to help me to love Him back...for real.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16
2 comments:
i may need to get that Bible study - I am feeling pretty slumpy too - kinda wavering back and forth.
Beth always has a way of telling it like it is.
I have never done this particular study of hers but I have done others and have often found myself staring at a simple truth like this and finally getting it. Oh, the grace of God! To put before us these simple truths over and over again until we get them- how generous of Him. I heard someone say one time that the reason we can't get our heads around God's love is because our view of love is skewed. The love we know- even between spouses, parents and children, family, etc., is imperfect. It's wonderful, but it's not pure and holy and perfect. This may be why we shrug it off. Oh, to get an earthly glimpse of the love He lavishes on us every day.... Keep working at it, friend. You're not alone:-).
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