“To be loved is to be changed”
The love of God is the need of every human being on the planet. Without it, we aimlessly wander trying to fill a hole that seems un-fillable. We try to fit a bunch of other things in it thinking we will be fulfilled, but nothing works. In our attempts, we end up with wounds that need healing. With new wounds, we try any number of remedies that will make it all better, which of course it doesn’t. It’s a pretty vicious cycle. In the end all would be made whole if we just allowed the love of God to be ours.
It is only in receiving the love of God that we are able to give love to anyone else. I can’t love my wife and kids the way they deserve, or the way I want to if I am not living in the middle God’s love for me. Without God’s love, my brokenness leaks out in selfishness and transactional love where I want to get something back for what I have given.
You’ve probably noticed that I said God’s love and not God’s unconditional love. I find there is a lot of confusion regarding what unconditional love is and what it does. When I hear someone say “God loves me unconditionally” I often hear a lot of add-ons to that truth. What I fear that I hear is “God’s love means I don’t have to change anything about me. God loves me warts, scars, bruises, brokenness, and all and there’s nothing I’m gonna do about any of that.” But is that unconditional love? Is that love at all?
If I were a doctor and had very sick patients but did nothing for them, nor did I encourage them to take their medicines, would I care for them? Is it ok for a parent to love their kid but let them play in the middle of a busy intersection or stick their fingers into electrical outlets? I love my boys, but I don’t want them to do things that will harm them, so does that mean I don’t love them unconditionally? Of course not!
That God loves us unconditionally is one thing but it is another to claim that unconditional love will leave us as we are. Maybe it’s better to say that the love of God is unending and unmerited rather than unconditional? God has a love for humanity and creation that is without bounds. It was love that brought forth creation in the first place and it is God’s love that keeps life happening.
God is also holy – absolutely pure. Holiness is repeatedly seen as a refining fire that burns off the decay so that the best is left. Holiness cannot tolerate sin and brokenness. God’s holiness without love would obliterate any signs of the impurity the second it occurs. But God’s love without holiness isn’t possible due to God’s very nature. The two concepts have to work together – God is Love and God is Holy.
God’s love is a holy love. Sin is what separated humanity from God. Sin has to be dealt with so that the Love we were destined to receive can be received. It’s God’s love that offers the way to do deal with sin. God’s love covers sin and restores creation. This love is unmerited. We couldn’t do a single thing to earn it. It is a love that is boundless and deep and totally encompassing. It is a love that sees the best and wants the best for us. This is the love we often call unconditional.
But the unconditional love we receive can’t let us stay in this space of ongoing brokenness. Unconditional love will never go away, unconditional love says nothing we do will make God not love us. But receiving that love also implies that we will be transformed into the one that re-presents that love to the world.
Yes, God loves us, sin and warts, and all. And because God loves us, we are not supposed to stay wart infested and sin-laden. We are to let that love heal us – heal our wounds, heal our brokenness, heal the places that we just think we’re stuck having to deal with. God’s love is for the transformation of all of us. That unconditional love doesn’t mean there is a fee or a duty owed. But it should mean that we are willing to let all we hold dearest to us be invited to the transformation of God’s Holy Love.
Being unconditionally loved by God is not an excuse to be a jerk because “it’s just the way I am.” Being unconditionally loved by God doesn’t mean that “if it feels good, then do it, because God loves me anyway.” Being unconditionally loved by God doesn’t mean that repentance is a bad thing (actually it’s a great thing that should lead to a huge celebration of freedom). Being unconditionally loved by God doesn’t mean there isn’t a divine plan for you to be more than you are right now.
Being unconditionally loved by God does mean that no matter what happens, I will always have someone who will be there for me – even when I’ve disgraced and wounded Him – who wants to welcome me back and forgive me. Being unconditionally loved by God does mean that I am never alone. Being unconditionally loved by God means I don’t have to fear judgment. Being unconditionally loved by God means I have been given life.
So, I don’t know if this is a good word or a hard word for you – it’s kinda both for me. It means I’m loved enough by God that I have an opportunity to be Holy as He is and then to Love as He does. In any case, I hope today you’ll experience the unmerited love of God – the love that you can do nothing to earn. I also hope that in that love, you’ll know God has a great plan for you.
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