The Nature of Love

November 30, 2012

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Ephesians 1: 3-10

I have owned these verses for the last six weeks. Which, for me, is rare because as long as I have been a Christian I have never really owned any verses in the Bible. I mean, like most “good Christians,” I have the essential verses memorized. But for me, there was something incredibly compelling in these 8 verses when I read them as though for the first time.

Then, through a series of unexplainable “circumstance” I came across them again, today, as I joined a men’s Bible study through my church called “Dudes and Donuts.” I didn’t eat any donuts, as I am pretty excited to have lost several pounds the last few weeks and am at my healthiest weight since I was in high school 14 years ago. But I did find myself completely surrounded by "dudes" who were searching for meaning in these verses today.

The rest of this reflection is short because 1) it is late in the day and I must be up early to go build a house for Habitat for Humanity, 2) it has been a few days since I last posted a reflection and 3) simply put, God is good.

I have a vision every time I read and pray over these words. It is of a bubble, a giant, comfortable bubble that encompasses me. And, as I tried to explain to one of the men today, it seems that bubble gets bigger and smaller around me at times… but the bubble is always there.

These verses speak a truth to me that is exactly what I have sought for the last six weeks since I have found them – the experience of God and not the intelligence of understanding God.

These verses become a bubble to me because I realize that in reading them, I (and you!) have no escape from the “furious longing of God” (Brennan Manning book title, amazing book, by the way). Before God created us, before we could choose to ignore Him and to go our own way, before we could sin before we even knew what sin was, He already had a safety net – a bubble- for us.

How this all works, I imagine will be revealed as a mystery in Heaven one day – if God chooses that I even need to know. But, how this works out today in my life is simple. God has chosen me (and you!) and He has pursued me (and you!) to the point that He has given us every reason and every ability to be captured in His love. And, once I accept His love, it is like swallowing that blue (red?) pill in the Matrix. Everything changes. Reality becomes real. And I suddenly stand in awe, as in the David Crowder song, and “I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me.”

I can’t explain God’s love. I can’t justify why He would love me when I am an awful SOB most days of the week. Except, in the times that He has allowed me to share in this love for someone else, I have learned that love is exactly as is described in 1 Corinthians. It’s cliché, mostly due to weddings. But the truth is, God loves me despite who I am. In fact, God loves me BECAUSE of who I am. And there is nothing I can do to change how He feels for me. I can’t earn any more of His love, nor can I lose any more of His love.

And there is freedom in this. Incredible freedom comes when you realize that, in love, you are free to be yourself.

That, after all, is the joy of love.

It is not the “feeling” we get. It’s not the comfort we have to hear the word. It’s not the thoughts or expectations of all that is possible because of the word.

Love is freedom.

And whether you choose to love your spouse or significant other, or whether you choose simply to be loved by God, the fact remains: love is freedom.

I choose to live in this freedom. To know that I will not be perfect. In fact, I will be awful at times. Many times. I will not understand, or I will be selfish. I will want to run away and do my own thing. I will make excuses for myself for why I am afraid of love and I will do everything possible to try and convince the world that I don’t understand love. But the simple fact remains: love is freedom.

So when love comes pursuing you, will you find freedom in this?

Will you know love when it stands before you, inviting you to be who you are, regardless of who you are?

Will you choose to be loved, and to learn to love in response, because you can be free to take your time to learn to love?

Will you accept that it is possible that, even in your deepest flaws, someone can still see you at your best every time they look at you?

It is hard to be loved, because we are hard on ourselves.

But the more I realize that God loves me despite myself, the more I am free to love others, to offer them the freedom that God has offered me. And that freedom is everything to me.

Life is about love. And love is about freedom. Therefore, life is about freedom.

Let’s be free. Let’s trust this “bubble” around us that protects us unconditionally. Let’s know that, despite ourselves, we are loved for being ourselves.

Lets love.

Lets be free.

Lets live the life we have been called to live.

Abundantly.