The Summons to Love

This morning I have been listening to the worship song, The Summons, and have been deeply moved by it. If you've never heard it, or if it's been a while since you listened to it, please go to YouTube and pull it up: https://youtu.be/GiXnbOORTAU  The challenge it presents to our faith lived out daily is real and God-spoken. 

I have fallen so short of God's best recently. Like the parable of the scattered seed falling among the thorns and thistles, the things that have claimed my attention have choked the flow of the Holy Spirit through me. This is a hard thing to admit on this page for all to see. I don't want to own up to it, but I determined when I began this blog years ago that I would chronicle my faith journey honestly. I've been humbled many times by what I've read in scripture and heard from the lips of more mature Christians. 

The recognition of missing the mark first elicited grief, then a degree of shame followed. Shame is a heavy burden to bear, but it's easy to fall into its grasp; at least it is for me. Again, an honest admission of weakness. But a verse from the song reminded me God isn't into shaming his children:

Will you love the 'you' you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me?

Scripture says to love others as we love ourselves. For many, including me, that can be difficult to do in light of our sins and failures. But how can we love others with the same wild abandon God does if we do not embrace his grace, mercy, and love toward ourselves? We can't if we don't see his transforming work in us. Paul wrote we have put off the old and put on the new. We are new creations in Christ. When we catch hold of that truth we are enabled to love the self we are becoming as we walk in his light.

Who you once were before you came to Jesus is no longer an issue. And your current sins do not stop God from loving you. All the law claimed against you was nailed to the cross and Jesus' last words were, "It is finished." Grace. No more can or should be added to that. 

Today, set aside some quiet time. Ask God to show you "you" and dare to love who you see.