What is Love?

Love is simple. The world tells us that love is complicated. They tell us that love is a feeling. When the feeling moves on, so should you. They tell us a thousand clichés about finding your true love and what to drink when you lose them. Mostly, they tell us that love is all about having expectations and expecting others to meet those expectations whether they are spoken or not. In other words, love is completely conditional.

God is love. God tells us that all of our good works combined are still only good enough to earn us a spot in hell, and yet His grace provides us a way out. He tells us that we have never deserved a single breath we have breathed, and yet He has sent His son to die so that we might breathe freely. He tells us that even if we never even acknowledge His existence, He will still bless us. In other words, His love is completely unconditional.

Jesus is God. He is our example. He lived a life of sacrifice and service to others. He healed the sick and the broken-hearted alike. He spent His time with the imperfect and the lowly. He washed the dirty feet of His disciples when His heart knew they would deny Him. He forgave and restored those He knew were undeserving.

I am not Jesus. How do I live as an emotional creature in this world of conditions with an unconditional love like His? When I feel judged, slighted, or taken advantage of, I have no intention of overlooking the pain that causes. When my kids are misbehaving, the furthest thing from my mind is offering them a chance for more freedom. When my husband sticks his foot in his mouth, the last thing I want to do is bless the man. My initial reactions are those of a selfish, loveless person because these people have not met my expectations.

Enter Grace. Grace is what helps me see that I am just as judgmental, petty, hurtful...as sinful, as the one who did me wrong. Grace is what helps me see their motive and what pain in their life caused them to act or react the way they did. Grace is being able to show compassion and offer forgiveness, whether it is asked for or not. Grace is being able to bless those who will always fall short of my expectations simply because they are valued and loved by God.

Love is unconditional. There are no exceptions.

My Journey To and Through Motherhood- Part 2

The first part of this journey was mostly consumed with my self, my opinions, and my fears. It never occurred to me that perhaps God’s opinions on the subject would be different from my own. He was certainly not surprised by the news that I was going to become a mother. In fact, He knew it well before I did. It was almost as if He had planned this journey for me all along, from the beginning. 

One gloomy day well after Lucy was born, I was crying out to Him for comfort and direction. He said to me, “Faith, you have many gifts and talents, but I am going to bring you into an area that you do not know anything about in order for you to see My grace and My power in your life.” When I heard that, I was excited about all the possibilities for ministry this would bring. I started dreaming big and expecting world-wide ministries to be birthed. I could not wait to see what door God was going to open next. I just hoped that I would be able to recognize it and walk through the door.

For some reason, instead of becoming the next Joyce Meyer overnight, I just continued to have babies. Sure, I held a Bible study at my house here and there and was involved in my church, but red and yellow lights were blinking everywhere I turned. Perhaps it was because God had something bigger and better in mind.

I was no longer going back to school or worried about finishing my degree. I had actually arrived at a place where I enjoyed staying home with those beings I could now call blessings. I no longer resented my husband for getting to go to work and getting to speak with adults all day. The revelation hit me like a ton of bricks. “Every time you did the dishes, I showed you my grace. Every time you cleaned that mess up- again- I showed you my grace. Every time your precious daughter laid hands on you to pray for your healing, I showed you my power. You wanted a world-wide ministry, I gave you three.” Thank God.

My Journey To and Through Motherhood- Part 1

I always hated children, possibly because I never considered myself one, possibly because I was never taught to love them. Whenever I would watch a woman giving birth on the television screen, she was always screaming in terror and agony. I wanted no part of that. What could possibly be worth that kind of torture? Whenever I would think about the plans I had made for my life and all the great works I would do for God, I knew that a child would just get in the way. I would have to do less important things for the God I so wanted to serve. What could possibly be worth that downgrade in heavenly credit?

After being married for a year and a half, I found out that I was going to have a baby. Weeping and gnashing of teeth ensued. How was this possible? Did God not love me? Was this His way of punishing me? I felt alone, panicked, unqualified, unprepared, and angry. I had no idea how God would turn this form of evil into good.

These extreme emotions might be offensive to the more motherly type, those who have perhaps always wanted children. These extreme emotions would be so foreign to them that they would be outside the realm of comprehension. That is a good thing. However, my story would not be complete without the ugly details that come with having a sin nature and the lies of the world firmly entrenched in my mind.

Fast forward, I gave birth to a mid-sized baby girl named Lucy. I decided that I loved her and that I would just have to make the most of it because we were stuck with each other. I had no idea how to be a mother and was convinced that unless I figured it out, this child would be warped for life. I knew this meant I would have to change. I would have to give up being so selfish, so lazy. Thank God that He accepts us with all the insufficiencies we have and all the selfishness that ensnares us. Thank God that He loves us too much to leave us that way. Thank God for His mercies that are new every morning.

To be continued...

My name is Faith, and I am not a blogger. I do not go to blogging conventions or ever dream of selling ad space on this page. I enjoy writing whenever I feel inspired or whenever a subject is weighing on me and I feel that undeniable need to let it out. The topics I choose to write about are widely varied and sometimes controversial, but I believe in having grown-up conversations. What is truth without love? What is an opinion without grace?
I hope that whatever words you find on this page will enlighten, inspire, or bring encouragement to you.