Why God Pursues and Woos with Love
One of the questions I regularly ask myself as I study scripture is “How is God drawing man into a deeper relationship?” I don’t want to just read the Bible and ponder what am I supposed to do. Nor do I want to read the Word and consider only what I think God will do for me.
God is continually pursuing us. Ever since Adam and Eve chose to define good on their own terms, God has been seeking to restore relationship with us. God designed a world where man worked with and for God, all while he delighted in his Father’s presence and goodness. I ask the question so I may gain wisdom to build a better relationship with Christ.
Love God, Love Others
Recently, I asked myself the previously stated question after I had studied Matthew 22:34-40 along with Romans 13:8-14. In Matthew, we learn the greatest command is to love God, and the second greatest is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Romans 13:10 says, “Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”
God draws us into a deeper relationship by calling us to love others because it is a command we cannot do in our own strength. Granted, we all have moments when we see a friend or neighbor in need, and we step in to help. However, we cannot love in such a way that we always do no wrong to others.
The Struggle with Selfishness
In this process of stretching ourselves to love others like we love ourselves, we come face to face with our own selfishness. We begin to see how often we consider what we want over what others want. We may not obviously act like a toddler throwing a tantrum, but our motivation is the same. If we take the time to fully examine our hearts, we realize we always seek to get our own way.
Paul states in Romans 13:14a, “…clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ…” (NLT) In this simple statement we find deep truth to help us overcome our selfishness. First of all, Jesus is LORD. We must recognize He is sovereign, and we are not. Second, Jesus’ presence is what empowers and enables us to do what we can’t do on our own. Third, the idea of clothing ourselves suggests we have a choice. We must continually choose to submit to Christ’s authority and allow His presence to lead us.
Living Beyond Ourselves
God draws us deeper in our relationship with Him by challenging us to live a life beyond ourselves. As we follow Paul’s simple statement in Romans 13:14, Christ leads us to a greater awareness of His abundant and sacrificial love. We gain a perspective of awe and wonder as we learn more about His love for us. Then, we are led to a new depth of gratitude and love for God.
My guess is you are familiar with this train of thought. However, we often find ourselves struggling to follow through and gain a deeper walk with God. We want to live into this concept, and we still battle our selfishness. As I played mental gymnastics trying to grasp this idea in a more practical way, God provided a visual for me.
My Sister, Me, and Overalls
My sister’s birthday was in May. She turned 65 and retired for the second and final time. I wanted to spoil her but struggled to land on the perfect gift idea. One day I was looking at the new short overalls provided by Duluth Trading Post because I am a big fan. My sister is a big fan of the color purple. Can you guess what I saw on my computer screen? Yup, purple short overalls, the perfect gift as one goes into summer.
A year ago, my family gave me a pair of short overalls from Duluth for Mother’s Day. I wanted them so badly, I sent them a picture of the print I loved, along with a link to make their purchase easier. I love my short overalls so much, I was eager to purchase a pair for my sister.
When we receive something we love, we want others to have it as well. When we try a new restaurant, we quickly tell our friends they need to try it. If we discover a great hiking trail with the best waterfall, we post pictures on social media so others know they should schedule their next hike.
God Woos Us
Jesus wants us to experience His love to such a degree that we can’t keep ourselves from expressing it to others. He draws us in so that we must depend on Him, and our wonder and awe grow. From there we seek ways to bring others into this amazing love that has captured us.
We aren’t commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves because it’s the right thing to do. God woos us to dive deeper in love with Him. He works to restore an Eden-like relationship with us. He transforms us more and more into the image He imagined when He created us.
God commands us to love Him with our whole being and then love those around us. We deepen our relationship with our Heavenly Father as we learn to live out this command. God isn’t demanding too much of us; He’s providing the way for us to know Him intimately, lean on Him more completely, and experience a greater depth of His presence.
Bible and Love Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash
