let His love win.

so, i'm gonna pull something my mom likes to do...

from of first importance this morning.

richard paraphrased this once in a sermon, and i feel like i have then quoted him several times before. so, i'm glad to have the unabridged quote. but, oh my goodness, i needed to hear this this morning.

“When we go to the cross, we see our God dying for us. If you let any other god down, it will beat you up. If you live for people’s approval or your career or possessions or control or anything else and you don’t make it or you mess up, then you’ll be left feeling afraid, downcast, or bitter. But when you let Christ down, he still loves you. He doesn’t beat you up; he died for you.

Let his love win your love, and let that love replace all other affections. The secret of change is to renew your love for Christ as you see him crucified in your place.”

- Tim Chester

these days, God is really teaching me a lot about His love relationship with me. ok, so that sounds basic, like the fundamentals. but, i get so caught up in what i have done/what i am doing/comparing myself, etc... i forget that He simply wants to have an intimate love relationship with me and then the "doings" will come from that. if i am not enjoying my relationship with Him first and foremost, then all the "stuff" is nil and void. and it is not so much that i am constantly doing for others, it is more the fear that i am not doing enough. God did not call us to live in fear. He freed us. like the quote says, i am enslaved by living for approval when, the thing is, i've already been accepted.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:8-10

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." -James 4:4