Love Works!

This morning a friend of mine posted this picture on Facebook.  It got me thinking.  Parenting seems to go better when I am postured to love and enjoy my children, and while I may know that to be true, sometimes I don’t parent like that.  Sometimes I’m just frustrated and want my kids to do what I want, so I try subtly or overtly manipulating their behavior.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  While I am NO parenting expert, I have sought to build good, Christ-like character into my children.  However, the older they get, the more their will interacts with mine and we collide.  In the end, it’s really God’s job to build Christ-like character in His children, we get to partner with Him in the process through cooperation, obedience and abiding in Him…loving Him, enjoying Him.

When I enjoy my children I parent from a different place...one of hopeful love, instead of condemnation.  Things naturally go better and I can trust the process because I know God is the ultimate author of their story and He holds all the details – even the messy ones.  Good thing too, because I have a few messy places in my own story!

So what am I getting at? .... God likes His kids, messy and all!  I like the exhortation of the words on that picture, not because I don’t think behavior is important, but because joy and love root good behavior and establish our character.  The ‘being loved’ grounds the ‘doing love’.  At least that’s what scripture says (Eph 3:14-21).  

I wonder if I assume that God 'parents' me they way I sometimes parent my children - more concerned about getting me to do what He wants, and less concerned about the two of us enjoying a relationship together (Zeph 3:17).  Do I, do we, make the assumption that God is up there in the heavens subtly or overtly manipulating circumstances to manage our behavior? It would then make sense why we scramble about looking for ways to do what we think God wants us to do; hiding when we’ve failed, standing proud as the Pharisee when we get it right.   My kids copy what I do because it has been imprinted upon them through loving relationship, and I suppose it’s the same with God.  He enjoys us and loves us, and from that place we live and move and have our being in Him?  

Pride and shame are left powerless when the heart is infused with the infinite love of God.  

Love automatically compels a righteous response and action.  We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).   It is not ‘soft on sin’ as I’ve often heard it said - that's tolerance..Tolerance is not love. In fact, it's the opposite.  Love finds truth and greets it with a kiss. (Ps. 85-10-13)  Love grieves deeply the course of sin.  Love is what makes remorse weep, crying out for redemption, and banking on forgiveness.  

After raising a few others from death, love held Christ on a cross unto death.  And it is the power of God’s love that pierced the tomb with eternal life; making it available to you and me.  So when loving is difficult, we return to the source – the place where God’s love was poured out.  We return, remember and receive.  We are dependent upon it.  It is only from that place of receiving His love that we can even begin to think of loving others…and loving other’s is exactly what God would want us to do!...I guess we’ve come full circle.

So I’m going to try a little experiment.  Rather than feeling obligated or forced to “do the right thing”, I am going realize I won’t get it all right – there’s no possible way!  And instead, I’ll begin by practicing God’s presence, mess and all, knowing He ultimately pens the story.  I’m going to try with each new opportunity, to return my thoughts to Christ’s love, remember His life set aside for mine and that it was for the JOY set before Him that He did so! (Hebrews 12:2), and as best I can, with open dependent hands, receive the resource of grace He offers that I may do the same for others…I am going to try meditating on His love and genuine delight, and see if it will lead to doing what He wants me to do.  

So what do you think?  Do you dare trust love to be so powerful...so transforming? 

Interested in joining me to find out??