Preemptive

We love because he first loved us.
-1 John 4:19

Friends, I talk and write a lot in my life. I fear I relate too well to the "pagan babbler" Jesus talks about in Matthew 6. They think they will be heard because of their many words. Jesus, please don't single me out like that. 

Sometimes it's best to keep things simple. Let's do that today.  

Each of our lives are more complicated than than anyone else knows. Our emotions, our energy levels, our work, and our family dynamics make for a lot going on inside us. Even our desire to follow Jesus matched up against the churning power of our own egos can create a whirlwind within. At LifePath we like to joke that we specialize in complicated because that's the reality of life. But sometimes complicated realities can only be brought to peace with simple truths. So today's simple truth is this: 

We love because he first loved us.
God's love for you is the starting point of all things. 

You did not exist at a time when God did not love you. 
You do not earn God's love for you. 
You cannot lose God's love for you.
Your mistakes and your shortcomings do not negate God's love for you. 
You are allowed to rest in God's love for you.
Even the love you seek to extend emerges from God's love of you.  

I so appreciate the words of Richard Rohr in his book, Falling Upward: 
“Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.”

 God's love revealed in Jesus is both the most constant thing in the universe, and the most mobilizing force in our lives. 

Every time we hit complicated moments, every time we are exhausted or overwhelmed, we remember that our central truth is that God loved us preemptively. God loved us first. And from that love, there is peace.
And from that love, there is joy. 
And from that love, there is transformation. 
And from that love, there is strength for us to share it with a hurting world. 

Jesus, thank you for loving me preemptively. 

Peace,
Keith