Love.

It makes me sad when people take concepts out of the Bible and use it for daily living but completely leave Jesus out. For example, let’s take God’s love. There’s nothing in this world that’s comparable to God’s love. It is what healed me, set me free, and gives me joy every day, knowing that the Creator of everything loves me and wants to spend time with me or sit by my side as I admire the sunrises and sunsets (that He painted!) during the course of my simple, limited, mundane life, just one life among billions. God’s love amazes me. And it is SO powerful.

So in psychology, there’s this concept called unconditional positive regard. It’s what counselors are encouraged to give clients so that they feel accepted and move towards healing. That’s wonderful. There are few things better than seeing broken people made whole, so I love that people can begin to feel better about themselves, feel loved and accepted, that’s awesome. Even just the unconditional love we receive from family, friends and pets has a phenomenal impact on how we think, behave and live.

So what’s the problem? Forgetting where this kind of love and the ability to give that kind of love came from means that we’re also ignoring what that Love did. For God so loved the world that He sacrificed His only Son, let Him die on the Cross, let Him take our place, our punishment, so that we don’t have to be punished for eternity. This is kind of a biggie to say the least and it just gets sidelined in the whole “Love is all that matters, bro” parade.

It’s like using one licensed copy of Microsoft Office on your personal computer and thinking that you will now inherit all of Bill Gates’ fortunes. Even if you’re a pro at MS Excel, the only way that you can inherit the Microsoft empire is if Bill Gates legally adopts you and makes you his heir. It cannot be said in a plainer fashion that this is exactly what God did! Anyone who believes in Jesus and what He did for them becomes born of God and is legally God’s child and a co-heir with Jesus himself. That’s what the Bible says!

There wouldn’t be love without God, there wouldn’t be a You without God, so when I say ‘God loves you’, it is because God is Love and He has chosen to lavish His love on you and me. Without God, there would be no love.

Don’t take all the good principles and values from the Bible and leave out its Author. Or you may end up having a great life for the limited time you are here and lose your soul for all eternity. It is definitely a matter of serious concern.

God loves you. Think about it.