To Be vs. To Do
In our minds it is common to always think in a meritocratic way: “do it to deserve it”. We end up having that same mindset when it comes to God and the way He loves us. We believe that certain sins, considered more serious, such as corruption, murder, adultery, among others, can alter God’s love.
There’s an excerpt from one of Max Lucado’s books that says:
“God’s love never ceases. Never. Though we spurn him. Ignore him. Reject him. Despise him. Disobey him. He will not change. Our evil cannot diminish his love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it any more than our stupidity jeopardizes it. God doesn’t love us less if we fail or more if we succeed. God’s love never ceases.”
Unconditional love
When we realize that God’s love does not increase or decrease, regardless of whether we have fallen back into sin or not, it is in the least shocking.
We get so used to loves that move according to what we do or how we act, that we forget that God is not a man. He doesn’t love in the limited way that we do. He doesn’t change either, he doesn’t regret it, so his love doesn’t go back.
As it is written in James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
God loves us not for what we do. He loves us for who we are.
And who are you?
I once heard a story of a girl who went to a Congress, where when asked who she was, she started by saying her name and her profession. So the leader who asked her the question simply interrupted her saying, “No, no. I want to know who you are, not what you do.”
This is a phrase that stuck with me, “you are not what you do”. Your mistakes and your past don’t define who you are. How hard you work in your local church does not define you or make you “deserve” God’s love. How much you run around doesn’t change something about you: your identity as God’s Beloved Child.
We come to understand this identity when we have a secret life with God, when He Himself, as our Creator, begins to show us who we are in Him. As we relate to Him, we understand who we are, and what we do because we are, not just because we do. In the secret we understand that the Father does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and always will be. As well as his love for us.
Our “work” or “effort” is not, and cannot be, simply to earn God’s love, but so that daily we can be closer to Him, in secret, enjoying His presence, where no one sees, no one but God.
In conclusion…
Today, I invite you to have a moment with God in secret, talking to Him, so that you can have your identity as a Son restored and so that the Father can also show you if you are prioritizing “doing” more. May you also learn to enjoy His unconditional love.
God bless you,
Ana.
by
Ana Julia Luiz, I am part of the Bible Offline team. I have been living according to God’s purpose for my life.
