Leading Back to Love

Blog One: Theology

Opening Question: In what ways have you tried to shove God into the boxes of your own understanding and/or in what ways have you given up on God because you fear that you will never understand Him?

Bible Verse: 1 John 4:7-8

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Now on to the blog!

Raise your hand if you struggle with understanding church, the Bible, or God. My hand is raised while I’m writing this (I’m in pubic, so I probably look a little odd), but even though I am the daughter of two amazing pastors I still struggle to know what Jesus is all about. The Bible is a confusing, complicated, and sometimes seemingly contradictory book. Church is broken and messy. Sometimes God can feel distant and unknown. If any of these feelings resonate with you, you aren’t alone.

I find that often when we feel this confusion, we do one of two things. We can give up altogether if we feel like we aren’t smart enough, good enough, or ‘churched’ enough to know about God. Or, go to the other side of the spectrum (I normally find myself here). Where we shove God into our own boxes, try to make our faith perfect, and overcomplicate what Jesus is all about. Neither of these things are worse than the other, and you might have done both things in your life.

Though, the truth is, we often make our ideas of Jesus more complex than it needs to be. Knowing Jesus is not just for the pastor, academic, or pharisee. Knowing Jesus is for everyone, no matter where your faith journey is. You don’t have to get a degree, buy intense bible reading plans, or spend hours a day trying to dissect the bible.

You simply invite Him in your heart, and He is there; and the more He you keep letting Him into your heart, the more you will deeply and wonderfully get to know Him.

You see, Jesus is more simple than He is complicated. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul describes God not as the author of confusion, but the author of peace. God, most simply put, is love. That's it. What you know about God, who He is, and all of the knowledge we have in our faith, should come out of a foundation of love.

Whenever you are grappling with understanding your faith, with understanding God, or simply with being a Christian; remember that you are not alone. Remember that God is with you, and all you need to do is invite Him into your life.

Most of all- remember that God is love. All you were created to be, all God is doing in the lives of others and you, all the things you value most as a Christ follower- are an outpouring of love.

You don’t need to run away when your faith feels too complicated to handle. You don’t need to try and fit God into the boxes of your own understanding. He is right here- reaching out to you. Simply with His love.

Prayer:

Dear God of love,

Faith is a journey, and a hard one for many of us.

We often fail to grasp who you are, as we fill our minds with things that cloud our vision and experiences of you.

God, we do not need to give up on knowing you. We don't need to make our knowledge of you perfect, either.

You are simply love.

Please make our study of you and our lives a reflection of that.

Amen.