The famous Brennan Manning once said, "If John were to be asked, 'What is your primary identity in life?' he would not reply, 'I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,' but rather, 'I am the one Jesus loves."
"I am the one Jesus loves." This has been my constant confession every time I faced the mirror. These words were pasted in almost everywhere (in my notebook, mirror, and bathroom) and most of all in my heart and mind. This has been a fuel that kept me going for so long in my journey of knowing God.
Into the thick of my journey of "knowing God" there were a lot of things that came into play. Rather that of a growing relationship with the one Who loves me and dwelling more on a revelation of how much I am loved, I had shifted to proving my love to God by being obedient, faithful and serve Him with my all. Suffice to say...my kind of love reached the bottom.
“I am the one Jesus loves.” There is nothing I can do to make God love me more than He already does. And there is nothing that I will do that will make Him love me any less. This is the gospel of love and a pure grace.
“I am the one Jesus loves.” As I traveled back into this truth, I came to realized that the Kingdom of Love calls us to walk against the world that calls for performance based on our self merit. In His kingdom we live by the gospel of grace –not our own effort but His. Not our own love but His. Not by our own power and might but by His Spirit.
If we talk about love and grace, in the context of God’s kingdom, it is unfair...because He loves everyone with the same intensity and accepts us equally. But love, however, is not about fairness and so is grace.
“I am the one Jesus loves.” I pray that I will live and move and have my being anchored in this simple truth. And in every single thing I do, I will do it not because I love God but because…I am His beloved.
---
Take time to read these two wonderful books about grace: What So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey and Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning.
No comments:
Post a Comment