Love is cool. You should try it.

So I’ve been reading 2 books that have completely changed my view of God’s love for me, and my love for others. Or I should say that God has used these books to make my open, but blind eyes, see His love for me. So much of my walk with Him has been trying to follow rules because I “love” Him and want to do what He commands. But I think it should be different. I think that by accepting His love for me, it empowers me to follow His will for me; and it empowers me to love Him back.

So instead of “doing _______ because I love Him;” now it’s “I love Him, so I’ll do _________.”

But how do I get this love for my Jesus? Surely I couldn’t love Him first, because people who have a rotten nature can’t love things that are good. I love Him because He loved me first, and because He still loves me. He is crazy about me. The creator of the universe, the one who has the power to create and destroy whatever He wants, loves me! Uh yeah….it’s cool.

In this revelation to me this last week, I flipped to Isaiah 41 and 43 randomly. I guess it wasn’t random because God used it to show more to me. So check out what God says to us:

Isaiah 43:2-4
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you (!!!!!!!!!).

Guys, please hear this, because it will shake you to the core.

Jesus loves you and considers you precious. (Stop, literally, and think about this. Please.)

What is something that is precious in your life? To me it’s my sister. I love her. The word love doesn’t describe my feeling for her. I would die for her without hesitation. There is not one good thing I would stop my sister from having. But because I’m human, my love is imperfect. Although she knows I love her, it will never be the perfect love that I long to show her.

Now consider God. His love is perfect, because He created love. He knows the absolute best way to show it, and he lavishes it on us because we are precious to Him. In His perfect way of showing love, He killed His Son. Killing and loving don’t seem to go hand in hand, right? But that’s beside the point.

God did the unthinkable to His Son, so that we could receive an unimaginable love from Him. What is our response to that? Is it to do things in His name to show your appreciation for His love? No. I think our response should be to love Him in return; to love Him with all that we have. I want to be like the dude who found a treasure in a lot, then went and sold everything he had so that he could buy the lot. He gives everything he has so that he can enjoy this treasure.

I think that is what God wants from us. He doesn’t want our good deeds, He doesn’t want us to do great things in His name, He simply wants us. And not just a part of us, he wants all of us. “Good deeds” are a result of this, so don’t think I’m saying that deeds aren’t necessary. But it’s the heart that ultimately determines whether the deed brings God glory.


I hope all my endless jabbering makes some kind of sense to you. I apologize if it feels like I left some crucial part of the gospel out of this; please seek me out and talk about it, because I love talking about this.

My prayer for me and you is that we will experience God's love more, and that we will truly see God’s love for us. My eyes were open, but I didn’t see; the same as hearing but not listening. May God let you see His love and grace in your life, and may your response be a deep adoration and love for Him.