Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Messy Spirituality

Home
Progressive Christian
Letting Love In: Part 1-Love Finds Us

Letting Love In: Part 1-Love Finds Us

Last updated on: August 3, 2020 at 11:30 am by Jason Elam

Letting Love In: Part 1-Love Finds Us 2020-08-03T11:30:56-04:00 Jason Elam

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This week, I’ll be taking a look at how the love of God transforms us and sets us free to finally become in public the image of God that we have always been within. This series will contain three posts, starting with this one.

Truly Unconditional

Growing up in the church, I heard a lot about the unconditional love of God. I remember thinking how odd it was that this God who supposedly loved us so much would impose so many rules and requirements for us to maintain His love. The general thinking seemed to be “God loves you. Now get your act together.” That was something I could never seem to accomplish. How could I bask in the love of a Father that I had to constantly prove myself worthy of?

Jesus told a story about a shepherd who had one hundred sheep. Like many of us at one point or another, one sheep either lost its’ way or wandered off and ended up estranged from the flock and the shepherd. Choosing to go after that sheep was a calculated risk for the shepherd. The countryside was dangerous. Difficult terrain and wild animals meant the shepherd was putting his own life on the line if he chose to go looking for that one sheep. On the other hand, that sheep would likely die if left alone. From a business perspective, it made no sense to leave the ninety-nine other sheep to go after the one.

Love Seeks Us Out

Jesus came on the scene announcing that He was a new kind of shepherd. This wasn’t about business for Him. His love isn’t transactional. A good shepherd’s motivation is simply love for his sheep. Jesus claimed to be a good shepherd who would pursue that wayward sheep no matter what it cost Him. He backed that up with His life lived in the margins of society and with His death at the hands of violent men.

As Jesus demonstrates, the love of God seeks us out. Jesus called this being “born of the Spirit” or “born from above”. It’s an awakening to the beautiful reality that we have been fully known and fully loved our entire lives. On our worst day, there has never been one moment of our life in which we were unloved.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”-1 John 4:18 NIV

For most of my life, I kept God at arm’s length unsure if I could really trust that the Creator of the universe would actually accept me as I am. Once I embraced the truly unconditional love of God, that love evicted my fear of Divine rejection and of eternal punishment. God isn’t a religious formula for a blessed life. God is extravagant, overwhelming love that keeps no record of wrongs and wants nothing more than for us to know how loved and accepted we already are.

For Further Reflection

Earlier this year, I interviewed “The Shack” author William Paul Young for The Messy Spirituality Podcast on the subject of the love of God. You can listen to that conversation here.

On Sunday, August 3rd, I shared a message along these lines with the people of Eternal Hope Church in Mary Esther, Florida. You can watch a video of that message on the Eternal Hope UCC Facebook page.

About Jason Elam

Jason Elam is Brandi’s grateful husband, proud dad of 4 awesome kids, a former professional wrestler and radio broadcaster, and former local church pastor for over 20 years. He is the author of the forthcoming book, “From Ashes We Rise” and hosts The Messy Spirituality Podcast. You can connect with Jason on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Patreon. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

July 31, 2020

Progressive Like Jesus

Next Post

August 5, 2020 Letting Love In: Part 2-Love Heals Us

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Black Lives Matter Book Review Church Deconstruction General Jesus Living Loved Politics Prayer Theology Uncategorized War

Select a Month December 2023 November 2023 March 2023 November 2022 July 2022 June 2022 December 2021 November 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 2 Peter, what do scoffers in the last days follow?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The traditions of men False prophets Their own evil desires The wisdom of the world