So my wonderful husband gave me the book Soul Cravings by Erwin Mcmanus for Christmas, and it is pretty amazing! So far I've read about half of the entries on Intimacy. He talks about every human being's desperation for love. It is incredible to realize the truth that we are all made for love...made to give love, to receive love, to pursue love, to live for love. And we are made by a God who IS love. Mcmanus explores the concept of unconditional love. The only love humans can really give is conditional...our best love may be close to unconditional, but we are imperfect and we love imperfect people. But God loves us without hesitation and without requirement. One of the greatest failings of religion is to assume that we must earn the love of God. God is a true lover, a perfect love-giver. He does not need a reason to love us. He pursues us because He can do no other thing, and He doesn't want to do anything else. He desires to be in relationship with us. How amazing! And the even more amazing thing is that His kind of love can explode in our lives. True love is insatiable. I believe Erwin Mcmanus says it best when he writes, "Love can never be simply between you and God. It can never be limited to that relationship. Jesus makes that clear. Love is ever expanding. Love always grows, not just deeper, but wider. Love always loves people more and always loves more people. Love calls us to community; love calls us to humanity; love calls us to each other."
So let's stop being afraid of love! Let's work together in our mutual imperfections to rid ourselves of abandonment issues and self-doubt. Let's join in community, leaving no outcasts, no person unloved or uninvited into our home. Because God is that home. And with Him, with true Love, everyone is welcome.
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