Are you happy with what you see in the mirror every time you look there?
Do you speak kindly about yourself?
Do you expect the best of yourself?
Do you feel worthy of being loved?
Do you feel loveable?
Are you happy to be you?
I was just thinking about “love” again…and how people view preachers who talk about it…
It’s not uncommon to see preachers/Bible teachers who focus on the Love of God to be criticized for being “light and fluffy”…and I was thinking about this like, “Why?” If God IS Love…why wouldn’t we focus on that attribute when so clearly humans are designed to seek it out.
“There’s a God shaped hole in all of us” right? That’s about love, so, why do preachers like Joel Osteen and others get big frowny faces from people?
When you look again at the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13…what do you see?
Love (God) is patient
Love (God) is kind
Love (God) is not jealous
Love (God) does not brag and is not arrogant
Love (God) does not act unbecomingly
Love (God) does not seek its own
Love (God) is not provoked
Love (God) does not take into account a wrong suffered
Love (God) does not rejoice in unrighteousness
Love (God) rejoices with the truth
Love (God) bears all things
Love (God) believes all things
Love (God) hopes all things
Love (God) endures all things.
Love (God) never fails
Do “you” read that list and immediately think that something’s been left out? Do you? Do you believe that this list is incomplete? Like, if someone asked you for a description of God and said, “Oh, look I found one here!” would you tell them that that’s nice but it’s not the complete description? What I'm getting at is...do you read this list, scoff, and say, “Well, yeah, but God is also harsh, punitive, angry, wrathful, and severe?”
Do you think that way?
I just considered this this morning and it’s really making me go, “hmmm.”
I had been told that a certain preacher was “light and fluffy” or something to that effect and I was unfamiliar with them so I investigated a little last week. I listened to 2 sermons of theirs online and was reading a little about them. I found one blog that talked about how evil this preacher was and had quotes from one of his books and as I read the quotes that were all supposed to be “unbiblical” and all the quotes by this preacher had to do with God being patient, loving, and kind…and I thought, “hmmm…”
It’s common for preachers who talk like this to get criticized…so why? When The Bible says GOD IS LOVE…why do preachers who talk about what God is…why do they get people upset?
I’d say 2 reasons…
1. Satan came to steal kill and destroy and wants you to not KNOW God…
2. And…I believe it’s because we apply our own experience to what the Bible says. We add to it. Like the above list, believing that it’s incomplete and needs to have “punitive, angry, severe” added to it. We bring our own experience to it...and we get that experience from our parents.
I’d be curious to see how many people who answered “yes” to all the questions in the beginning have a problem with seeing God as loving? I’d be curious to know how many people who really feel good about themselves, who love themselves and see themselves as worthy have a problem with these kinds of preachers?
You know, people who do not feel good about themselves and do not feel worthy and lovable are not comfortable when someone attempts to look them in the eye and express love to them. They must push or look away. So, is this it? Is it that when a preacher attempts to look us in the eye and express the deep infinite love of God toward us that we can’t handle it? That we’re more comfortable with the “punitive, angry” side of God?
And, where do we all get the feelings we have about ourselves? For the most part it’s ingrained in us from our 1st years of life…
Did we have moms n’ dads who treated us like we were worthy and lovable? Were our parents patient, understanding, and forgiving? Did we please them? Or, did they always expect more from us than we delivered? Did we get treated like people when we were in error or did we just get our butts whacked?
Why do we see God the way we do? Are we comfortable with looking Him in the eye and receiving that intimate not-angry love of His? If not, we need to work on it ’cause we’re being robbed!
What kind of picture are we forming of God for our children?
Is there anything in life more serious than this???
