We were built for love and to love. Love is our primary source. Our Creator God made us to and for love. If you are born again, LOVE is your current reality. We actually have to go counter to our design to be unloving as regenerate creations. This is both shocking and liberating to me. But it also gives me incredible vision to know my purpose in this world. It’s just to be loved and be loving.
This isn’t a forced, gross, sappy love. It isn’t the ridiculous goodness that masks true feelings of indifference or even disdain. The love I am talking about is openhearted, fully connected love. The love that affirms, attunes, and expresses affection to others without the shame and fear of exposure.
For Love Without Fear
It isn’t always easy to love without fear. To come without defense or a governor to manage the heart. We prefer a side hug and a quick tap out than an actual engagement where our hearts are exposed. But that is not Christ’s love at all. His love is beyond expressive and is deeply impactful.
The temptation to fail to let His love shine is so evident, especially among men. This temptation is the enemy wanting us to experience cold love. Cold love is selfish, extracting, and self protecting. Cold love leaves the heart empty rather than full and this is his hope. Truly, cold love has nothing to do with God. Cold love isolates not connects.
So as I am pursuing a path of expressing and experiencing His love for me and through me towards others, I have to check my heart at the door. I have to question, am I quenching His love to remain safe or am I seeking to extract from it for self? Both limit loves expression and squelch its true impact. Love it intended to change and impact. It is purposed to be radical and dynamic. We are containers of His Love and it is required to be expressed.
This past weekend I experienced amazing love between brothers. It was affirming, connected, and redemptive. It seemed each of the men risked the quandary of either not giving or taking for self. My hope and prayer is that they each left with more of Christ’s love for them and view of them. The whole process of love is risky, but also so worth it.
As the Lord has worked in my heart over my hindrance to love & ‘not giving or taking to self’, this verse got inside my heart. “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding & expression of the love of God & the patient endurance of Christ.” The Passion calls it “God’s pure love”. Redemptive & liberating! God’s Love is incomprehensible, our hearts know this is so. Love gives us courage…to love. Love can go out & run it’s course, with Jesus in it’s sight. Patient endurance, because love is purposed to “change & impact”, it’s “radical &… Read more »
Just finished E. Stanley Jones book, The Unshakable Kingdom And The Unchanging Person. Was wondering how I could narrow it down to one statement. Woke up during the night and this came to mind, “Self-giving Love is the expression and manifestation of the Kingdom of God.” Then I get up and read this from you. Not a coincidence! Thanks, John
Bless you Richard! So grateful for your words! This statement is beautiful! I need to go pull that book out! Thank you for letting me be a part of your journey!