Today I want to share with you something that has kind of revolutionized the way that I see God, and the way that I approach faith. And it's this:
I think for all of us, it's so easy to have this idea in our head of what a "good Christian" is and of all the things that they are supposed to do. Subconsciously, we believe that doing all the right things will make God love us more. But the idea that God's love can be earned is untrue, and often becomes a stumbling block, for Christians and non-Christians alike.
Even though God's love and salvation sounds wonderful, the obstacle for many people is this: "I don't want to believe in a God who demands things from me. I don't want to have to give up my freedom to do whatever I want and to be whoever I want to be."
Well I'm here to tell you this, God is not calling you to do things differently so that you can EARN His love. Never once did He say, "If you do this, I will love you more." He already loves you abundantly.
Now you may be thinking, but Kylie, there are so many instances in the Bible where God says, do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. Yes! But the key thing, and the thing that we often forget, is the fact that these things, our actions, do not form the basis of God's love for us. He asks these things of us so that we can make ourselves available to receive the gifts He has already prepared for us.
Imagine this: There is a mother who has prepared a gift for her child. She comes home after work and says to her kid, "Hold out your hands." Wouldn't it be absurd for the child to think "Ugh, why is mom being so demanding? Asking me to do this and do that! What does she want from me?" No! Because the child knows that this command from the mother is what will allow them to receive the gift.
If, for what ever reason, the child refuses to hold out their hand and would rather play by themselves, it won't make the mother love them any less. She will just be really disappointed that she couldn't give them the gift.
So then, I guess the question that follows is, how do I know that God is like this loving mother? Because if a random stranger walked up to me and asked me to hold out my hand, I might just run the other way in fear that they would hit me or abduct me or something. Even if I choose to believe that God is this loving parent figure, what exactly does it mean when God calls us to "enjoy His love"?? And what gifts does He have in store for us?
I'm gonna leave this post here as a little teaser for future posts to come, where I will hopefully answer some of these questions or at least provide some insight. Until then, stay tuned, remember you are loved, and see you next time:)