A Love letter to God,
I have known You for so many years, I feel like we should be old friends by now. But You continue to amaze me! Just when I start to understand, You show me another side of You—even more beautiful than the last. Your Word like a perfectly cut diamond shows a new facet of You every time I look. But, they all reflect back to one truth—You are love. Not just that You do love or that You have love, but You ARE love! Everything You do is motivated out of the core of who You are—Love.
You must, by the definition of Love, want the best for what is others—no matter the cost to Yourself. Therefore, You love me... I can do nothing to inspire that love. Nor can I do anything to inhibit Your love. You give it freely because it is who You are. You can’t not love me. You work all things together for good because You are good.
Love, when given, does not subtract from the giver—it multiplies. Hate on the other hand destroys. If then, You are perfect love, You multiply infinitely. You are self sustaining--completely independent. You need nothing from anyone or anything. There is no hate in You to tear You apart or destroy You. You do not need me to do anything or say anything or be anything for You, to make You complete. You are complete in and of Yourself. You are the “I Am.” You desire for me to act and think and be in accordance with Your Word, is not just because You know You are better than me and You deserve it, but because You love me and what You desire for me to become, is what is best for me.
You show us snap shots of what our relationship with You should look like by creating examples of those relationships among us humans. You relate to us as a Father, a brother, a friend, a King, a servant…but they could all be summed up in one relationship—lover. Not adulterous affair lover, but as in bride and long awaited bridegroom lovers—as in “They two shall be one flesh.” A permanent, complete conglomeration of two entities into one functioning body of which You are the head. This is why when we act outside of the proper bounds of each created relationship, it is so appalling to You. Disobedience, hatred, fornication, adultery, rebellion, pride all skew the reflections these relationships were meant to show of You.
Even Your discipline of such acts is because You love. In discipline You encourage Your own to do what is best for them. In wrath You create justice, defending those who are trampled upon. It is retribution as an act of Your love for the victim. It is jealousy for what is best for the World. It IS love. Many bad things happen to people because the World chooses NOT to follow the way You set up for us. Mankind chooses to live with rape, murder, drunkenness, hate, greed…You did not choose it for us. You abhor such actions—they are not Your fault. You are grieved for the victims of such acts. One day You will set all things right.
We as humans have holes and cracks in our heart, voids that must be filled—both those You created in order that we would see our need for You to complete us and those made by the destructive power of hate in us. When we try to fill these holes in our lives with something other than Your love, we just shove junk into the cracks that drives those cracks wider. Sex, food, money, things, relationships, vengeance, work, self-pity, substance abuse ...these things that we try to patch our souls with become a wedge in our hearts that can eventually shatter us and those around us. They become what we turn to for help other than You, and in so doing they become a “god” to us. One thing that we use to fill the gaps is not worse or better than another. It is all on the same level of repulsion to you. Therefore, the person filling their gaps with food cannot look down on the one filling it with drugs. The one filling it with busyness is no better than the homosexual. We should look on one another’s wounds with a godly compassion—seeing one another’s pain instead of just our faults. Only through the healing power of Your love can You create a new heart in us. That is why You are so jealous for us to only fill ourselves with You. Every other thing we use to fill our gaps harms us, and harm to Your beloved grieves You. That is why we are only to have You as our God, because it is what is best for us!
We are created for Your love and in our perfect state of creation we would have reflected You perfectly “in Your own image”—the image of love. But, in our fallen state we can only offer this warped reflection which is skewed by filters of hate. Reflection= to give the proper opinion of= glory. We are created for Your glory not because You are arrogant and need to be reminded of Your beauty, but because being a reflection of Your perfect love is, again, what is best for us and those around us. It allows us free access to the healing power of a loving relationship with You, and opens us up to love each other without inhibition. When we act outside of the boundaries You set up for those relationships in our lives, we “fall short of the glory of God.” Mankind’s original act of choosing to fill our desire with something other than Your Love, shattered our ability to reflect Your Love at all. Because You are perfect love, You cannot allow this imperfection to mar Your beauty, for then You would no longer be perfect. And since man chose to be imperfect rather than wholly pure as You created us to be, You predestined a plan of rescue for us even before we ever needed it. On one hand You must love—You must care for us more than You do for Yourself. Yet, You are perfect and cannot accept the destructive power of imperfection as part of Yourself—it must be cast out of Your presence. How can one who is wholly love cast away the very object of that devotion? And so, you came into the World—not to condemn the World, but that through Your provision, You can have fellowship with the World again. Jesus’ death covered our imperfection. He spanned the gap in the relationship between You and us that our choice created. You see us through the filter of His loving blood. Your own infinite love was and is the only thing great enough to bridge such a chasm between perfect and imperfect. Imperfection does not hold such power to reach out; we are too absorbed with holding on to ourselves. The endless depth of Your love is amazing in that You—being God—knew before You ever created the World that we would choose hate over Your love. And yet, because of Your compulsion to love and have an object other than Yourself to receive that love—You created us anyway.
You are the only infinite power in the universe—the only entity that is self sustaining. As such You have all the sovereign authority to demand us to fulfill Your will. But instead, in Your perfect love, You set aside the power You have to force us to love You back or follow Your rules. You showed us this humility when You set aside your rights and became a man for our sake. Forcing “love” is a human characteristic that we often term as “rape” or at the least “controlling”. You are not a megalomaniac—a negative social psychotic condition. You simply encourage: “Today, I set before you life and death—choose life!” Then with all Your heart desire us to choose life. We most often do not. Even when we are moving in that general direction, sometimes we pull back from fellowship with You because it is too much effort, too much change, we think it cost too much, it is uncomfortable…whatever the reason, we deny You Your rightful authority to change our lives for the better. When we sin after accepting Jesus—Your way to restore fellowship with You—we dent and warp our ability to reflect the proper image of You. You want us to give You the chance to smooth out our reflection, not just so You can gloat about what You see reflected, but because seeing that reflection means that we are beautiful—like You. You are patient and kind as You work to smooth out our bent and broken reflectors. You are slow to anger even when we pull back from Your tools that refine us into Your beauty.
Today, I choose life. Make me a perfect reflection of You, not just because it will bring me joy, completion, satisfaction, stability, hope, power, access, beauty… but because it will help those around me see You more clearly. It’s is what is best for them and in turn what is best for You. You are beautiful to me! I want to reflect You as fully and brightly as the original creation allows. Begin to change the world around me through the breath of Your love. You are lovely and I want the whole World to fall in love with You! I have been reflecting You as if the light of Your love could be expressed by a set of eight crayon box. It might give a good idea of who you are, but it’s not the full picture. Teach me to reflect You in the full spectrum of Your love from ultraviolet to infrared—and all the colors of Your love beyond that. You are the Light of the World and I want to reflect Your love with a bright white brilliance. I want to KNOW You and make You known for who You are! I want to give the proper reflection of You!—to bring You glory! I want to live to the full potential of who You created me to be. I am not worthy of such a beautiful thing, nor do I have the right to ask it, but I know it is what You desire for me. It is the delight of Your heart. And so, for Your sake and mine, I give You me. Do with me according to Your endless love. I am not afraid! I am nothing without Your infinite love! Create my life into its full potential according to Your will and plans. I trust You to love me more than I could ever have asked or imagined. It is what makes You God and not man. Thank You for who You are, and for inviting me to be a part of You! Be my Lover and let me be Your beautiful bride!
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