perfect love anchors us

How can a child remain strong in the face of criticism, persecution, bullying or adverse circumstances? In the same way you and I can weather the storms of life - by anchoring into God. In this same way, a child can weather the criticism or rejection of their peers when they know they are loved and cherished by their parents.

¹This strength is not based on circumstances or conditions being perfect -- having perfect friends, resources, abilities or perfect appearance, etc. -- but on godly love given to them by loving godly parents. This love sustains them in the face of adversity.

Knowing within we are loved inoculates us from the insults, emotional attacks, and blows of life without.

This is what also makes great ²leaders. It is not just their skills and abilities, or commitment to principle - though both of these are certainly significant and beneficial - but a clear sense of their own value due to being rooted and grounded in love i.e. being valued by someone significant.

When we have a strong sense of value - initially due to being valued by those closest and most valuable to us, such as our parents, and ultimately God Himself - we are impervious to outside ³assaults. The greater our awareness of our value to God the more impervious we become to attacks and insults. 

What others think, does not carry as much weight because we know we are accepted, embraced and loved by those we value most and are closest to us; those who see and know us best (warts and all) yet still love us most. 

When we know there is someone who knows us best - with all our flaws as well as strengths - and still loves us, we are less impacted when others point out those flaws. The more grounded we are in love the more oblivious we are to the criticism of others and the less influence their opinion has on us. 

The only parent that loves perfectly is our heavenly Father.

However human parents soundly grounded in God's love are the first and primary means of conveying God's love for and to their child. The better they convey this love as the child matures, the easier it is for a child to transfer their trust in their earthly parents - a community of two - to their heavenly parent - a community of Father, Son, and Spirit - when they launch out on their own.

If a child grows up knowing that God is the source of life, love, and all things, by how their parents spoke and lived, the parents have done their job well.

What about those of us who grew up with less than perfect parents or possibly no parents at all?

We are told in Psalm 27:10 

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

The most perfect parents are those who've learned to draw their sense of value from the perfect love of God and by that love are empowered to love their child with God's love in a way all of us are designed to experience. If our parents did not live this way because they never received and knew God's love themselves, we can go directly to God for love because He is the Source.

For a discussion on whether loving ourselves comes into play above click here. ______________________________________________________________

¹To draw strength from God simply means we have a strong sense/awareness/ recognition of our value, worth, significance, importance etc. because God recognizes and acknowledges these about us i.e. we feel this way about ourselves because we know this is how God sees and feels about us. 

Whose opinion can be more significant?! If God is for us, who can be against us? Answer? No one! Nobody is greater or more important than God!

²Because of this, all followers and lovers of Jesus can be leaders i.e. they can be fearless in the face of opposition. The more grounded they are in God's love the stronger and more impervious they are to any criticism, attacks, or mistreatment. Leadership is not just a personality trait or a certain skill set but also a character quality i.e. a deeply rooted sense of their worth because they know they are valued by their Creator. 

Though we all have different skills and personalities - some greater and stronger than others - character can be developed within all personality types, for strength of character comes from God not us. All who are in Christ have complete access to God, the source of our strength and all things needed to flourish. 

³A strong sense of our worth in and through God is also the foundation for courage -- along with all other positive character qualities. When we truly and deeply know God is for us, we also know no one or nothing can ultimately (eternally) be against us. For we know our current troubles are "...preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison..."

Are we actually rebels toward God?

Do you love God with all your ¹heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself? If we are honest I think we can agree, none of us do this consistently, much less perfectly, maybe only rarely; most not at all. 

Why does this matter?

If God is the all-loving, all-wise, all-powerful Giver and Sustainer of life, love, and all things - as demonstrated in sending Christ - should we not love and honor Him with all we are and have i.e. according to who He is? Would this not be central and vital to the reality of who God is and who we are? To love God is not only the most important thing we can do - along with the 2nd greatest commandment - it is who we are designed to be, i.e. it fits who we are (and who God is, in whose image we are made) and how we are designed to operate at our highest level and capacity. And because it fits, we can never be complete and flourish as God intends, without aligning our lives accordingly. 

So it's important we love God not only because He tells us to, but also because it fits ³who we are and how we were created to be. 

If so, why do we not love God with all we have and are?

Because we don't know him; or what he's really like. Our understanding of Him is distorted because of our distrust (the core part of "unrighteous"). If we truly believed He was who He demonstrates himself to be - perfect honor and love for Him would be the organic response.

Why don't we know him?

Rom 1:19-20 tells us..."For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been ²clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

The creation -- which includes us (with our insatiable desire and need for infinite love) as well as all the rest of creation -- ³tells us something very significant about our Creator. Through what we see in creation (internally in how we are wired and externally in how things operate), we are given more than enough information about God to know he is infinitely powerful and divine as the above passage says. So no one can say they know nothing significant about God. 

This passage tells us we know enough that we should honor and pursue him; surely more than enough to spur us to seek Him out to find out more about Him so we can know him better. This is why the passage says we are without excuse.

So what's the real problem?

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who ⁴suppress the truth in unrighteousness...

Something called "unrighteousness" causes us to tenaciously ²push down and ignore the truth within and all around us about who God is as well as who we are; be that truth about why we are the way we are e.g. why we long for love, meaning, purpose, etc. This is an internal witness, if you will, to what God is like. 

And why the world displays amazing beauty and design even amidst all the brokenness, evil, pain, destruction, death, and decay - i.e. life persists even in the midst of constant death. This is an external witness to what God is like. 

When we stop to consider these things we recognize we truly are without excuse.

Since we are told unrighteousness is our primary problem it behooves us to understand it. What is the nature of it so we might address it? How do we display it?

Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they ⁵did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

·        We did not, and still do not respect (honor) God as God i.e. we did not (and do not) recognize him for who he truly is -- the Creator and Sustainer of life and all things, worthy of a complete love, honor, and trust. 

 

·       We did not - and still do not - give Him thanks as the Giver of life and all things. Our lack of gratitude for all the good gifts of life is the greatest indicator of our unbelief.

·       We value the things God gives more than Him who is the giver of those things.

What is at the heart of these denials and misdirections?

We don't believe God is who he claims to be; the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things who offers us infinite life and love. In a word, we are calling God a liar by seeking from created things only what God can give.

And what is at the heart of unbelief?

Rebellion. We choose not to believe God is who he has clearly demonstrated himself to be and therefore we refuse to trust Him. He's revealed himself via the creation first but most importantly, in sending Christ. Christ said "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father" - i.e. God himself. That is no small claim but one that deserves serious study. We refuse to recognize who God has already revealed himself to be through creation and His Son. We willfully suppress what has been clearly revealed. 

We are saying two things when we do not respond appropriately to the truth that we are given - no matter how little or much truth that is. When we don't, we are saying God is a liar and we know more - and better - than he does. 

If God is infinite, loving, all-wise, and all-powerful - as He claims and demonstrated in Christ - and we are finite, we are denying a very important reality about us and him. Yes, we are rebels. Unbelief is at the heart of our rebellion. 

For a further discussion on the solution to our rebellion click here. 

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¹what does it mean to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

• heart -- the core of our being, our central motive for action
• soul -- our feelings/emotions
• mind -- our reasoning and what we believe i.e. commitment/trust/faith in that belief
• strength -- our actions, efforts, exertion 

²clearly perceived - καθοράω  kathoraō

Thayer Definition:

1) to look down, see from above, view from on high

2) to see thoroughly, perceive clearly, understand

Strong's Definition:

From G2596 and G3708; to behold fully, that is, (figuratively) distinctly apprehend: - clearly see.

³Our insatiable need for infinite love tells us we were designed for infinite love - i.e. Our Creator - because he is infinite love.

⁴suppress - κατέχω - katechō - kat-ekh'-o

From G2596 and G2192; to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively): - have, hold (fast), keep (in memory), let, X make toward, possess, retain, seize on, stay, take, withhold.

⁵For a further discussion on the basis of morality click here.

in this world, you will have tribulation

Christ said, "...in this world, you will have tribulation..." Struggle and pain are inevitable in a broken world made up of broken people - which includes you and I. 

To say it another way, we should not be surprised by struggle or think God has abandoned us when struggles happen. If we do not understand this we will be inclined to have a pity party or even fall into despair when things go wrong, thinking something's ¹uniquely wrong with us and God has painted a target on our back or worse yet, that God is not good or doesn't exist at all. 

We will also be tempted to position our lives so that avoidance of pain is our primary focus i.e. we will seek comfort and make ²pleasure our greatest pursuit. 

This of course, would be a mistake since struggle is not without a ³good purpose.

Is life only tribulation, struggle, suffering? No. We can legitimately enjoy and be genuinely grateful for the good gifts God provides, and are called to be. But, obtaining and enjoying His gifts is not our focus; God’s glory is. And not simply because glorifying God is asked of us but it is also desired by us. 

The irony and surprise is when we experience God's glory we also find ⁴our greatest joy and pleasure. This is our experience now when we trust Him and will be our uninterrupted state once we enter into eternity.

Once we understand that struggle is inevitable, the question then becomes whether we engage tribulation passively or actively; willingly or unwillingly.

There is active and passive suffering. Though they both ⁵can result in our conformity to Christ they're not the same in how we engage them.

Passive suffering occurs when we experience loss through circumstances we do not choose i.e. outside our control e.g. someone unjustly mistreating us, sickness -- our own or loved ones -- loss of some gift, job or material possession, or even a loved one etc. If we live any length of time we all will encounter these challenges.

Active suffering is to willingly -- actively -- become a living sacrifice. It is choosing daily to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Christ.

If we do not willfully (actively) participate in suffering, we will still experience passive suffering simply because the world is broken but most importantly because God ⁶is always working to make us like his Son no matter how much we intentionally or unintentionally, willfully or unwillingly participate.

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¹And of course something is wrong with us. I'm referring to something being uniquely wrong, when in fact we all experience the same plight i.e. that verse is not just for us alone. The “you” referred to is a universal you.

²And in fact many within the church do exactly that. The result is what is sometimes called the "prosperity" gospel or the "health and wealth" gospel.

³For a fuller discussion of that good purpose click here.

⁴For a fuller discussion of Gods glory being our greatest joy click here.

⁵In both active and passive suffering, trust is central. We must trust God is working for our good -- i.e. to make us Christlike -- if we are to fully gain the benefit He intends from struggles. In active suffering we step our in faith knowing we honor God in our obedience. In passage suffering we look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Heb 12:2

⁶"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

Fully loved, completely broken

We are fully loved and completely broken at the same time. How do we function when these both exist within the same person - i.e. us? 

This can only happen if we are in Christ and recognize:

• God fully knows us as we are, warts and all -- there are no secrets or surprises for him about us even if and when there are for us. 
• Because of Christ, He completely receives and embraces us with full knowledge of all our brokenness. 
• Our brokenness always produces broken actions and outcomes. 
• God ¹usually does not spare us from the consequences of our broken choices but uses them to humble, instruct and advance us i.e. make us more like Jesus.
• He always hurts when we are hurting i.e. ²he feels pain when we go through pain from our broken choices, he does not condemn us for them. 
• God redeems and uses everything for his glory; both the actions and the consequences.
• God always sees and focuses on us as his image bearers, with the potential he has created us for, not on our weaknesses and failures. He addresses our shortcomings only in so far as they hinder our potential to better glorify him and enjoy him forever.
• He is always sad for us -- vs mad at us -- when we fail and always rejoices when we succeed. 

God always loves us, is always with us, always applauds our successes, always offers comfort in our failures and always uses all things --  good, bad and ugly -- to advance us so we might bring him greater honor and enjoy him more fully.

How can all these be true when we are such a mess? God's ³love, wisdom, power, and commitment to our advancement are not based on what we do but on who we are as His image bearers and who he is as demonstrated in what he already did in and through Christ. Now He simply works with us to increase our capacity to experience, enjoy, honor and display Him more fully. We are 

For a discussion on suffering at the hands of others choices click here.

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¹In God's mercy, he sometimes spares us from suffering the full consequences of our poor choices because he, in his infinite and perfect wisdom knows (not us) what will best advance our relationship with him.  Most of the time that means we will suffer the full consequences, but not always or automatically. Unlike our imperfect earthly fathers, God is our perfect heavenly father and always knows and does best when it comes to our discipline. 

²When it was appropriate for me to receive a spanking -- outdated and frowned upon today though not from ancient wisdom -- my dad would occasionally say, "this is going to hurt me more than it is you..." At the time I always use to think "sure it is Dad, sure..."  If you are a father you will understand the mixed emotions of disciplining your child. The difference with our heavenly father is there is never any uncertainty on the best way  to correct us.  He knows perfectly what we need most.

³I'm referring only to God's attitude of love and commitment to us not our experience of that love. Our experience of his love has everything to do with us. For further discussion on this click here.