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God is Love?

The Bible uses the phrase "God is love" (1 John 4), and Christians do believe that this is true. However, if you go to a Christian church you are more likely to hear what God doesn't love about us, or what we need to do in order to live up to God's standards, then you are to hear how much God loves us. My friend Graham pointed this out to me the other day and it struck me. If we look in the Bible we find a lot about what we need to do in order to become better people. If we go to church and hear only about what we need to do in order to become better people, are we missing something? Maybe we are. The problem with only hearing this is that it can lead to legalism and/or guilt. I think what we could be missing is the basis for all the morals and behaviors that are spoken of in the Bible. The basis is his love. I believe that God has made a way for us to be imperfect and still have a relationship with him. I believe that we can not do ANYTHING that can separate us from his love...but, God loves us so much that he wants what is best for us, he knows that living with good morals and with correct behavior will actually make our life better. Maybe it isn't about living to please him, maybe it all goes back to how much he loves us and wants the best for us.
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Anonymous said…
That rules. Thanks for the post. I just read
"the shack" and it brought me to that place even more.
8:19 am
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