Today I have been overwhelmed by the immense amount of love poured out on me! My family and friends have gone above and beyond to make my 20th birthday a special day =).
In the midst of all the attention, of which I'm not a fan, I've found myself almost discouraged and saddened... so weird, right?? I couldn't explain it for the longest time, but something finally clicked. God just reminded me of something very important: it's okay to accept love! The fact that I feel undeserving of the love doesn't discount its reality. Also, refusing to accept love (fully) is not an act of humility but an offensive gesture toward the one striving to show love!
So many times I've even pushed away God's love with the misconstrued notion that I'm doing the right thing and living humbly by not accepting it. Or I'll "accept" it but continue in a heretical mindset of seeking to prove my worth by performing good deeds, acts of service... anything to prove to myself and others that I deserve to be loved. But I don't. And that doesn't even matter!!!! GOD IS LOVE; he loves me for who HE IS, not for what I have done.
(this reminds me of one of my currently favorite songs by JJ Heller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgGUKWiw7Wk)
One of my favorite passages to share with others at the end of cards, emails, or random notes is Ephesians 3:17-19: "... And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." How often do I let that verse sink into my soul, especially when it's paralleled to 1 John 4:8, "God is love"?
Do I deserve God's love? Absolutely not
Should this prevent me from accepting His love? Absolutely not
We can humbly, boldly, and unashamedly accept the love of God (and others), not as a means to appeal to our personal feelings, but as a declaration of His perfect character, ultimately bringing Him glory.
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