relationship vs. religion
12 May 2011 Leave a Comment
This quarter, I’ve been doing a study with some amazing girls on the book “Abba’s Child” by Brennan Manning that’s all about “the cry of the heart for intimate belonging.” Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of “relationship vs. religion.” The author says that many Christians have bought into the lie that we are worthy of God’s love only when our lives are going well. But when life begins to fall through the cracks, we scramble to keep up a good front to present to the world – and God. We tend to “hide” from God and think that we must “have it all together” to approach Him.
Yet all this time, God is calling us take off the “mask” – the imposter – and to come openly to Him. God longs for us to know in the depth of our being that He loves us and accepts us as we are. In Him there is life, our passion is rekindled, and our union with Him is His greatest pleasure.
As I’ve been studying this book, I’ve been praying these verses constantly:
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:7-14
Relationship with the Living God is the greatest “success” we can achieve in this life! We must not buy into the lie that we are not “worthy” of God’s love. We must learn how to receive this transcendent love that unlocks our souls. In Him all joy and peace is found. He loves us just because He loves us. It’s not based on what we’ve done, or who we are, or how much we’ll do for Him in the future. He just delights in us and wants to spend time with His children! We are not distant relatives or acquaintances – we are His beloved children.
I’ve been learning just how much God’s love is different than human love. It’s not conditional, He does not harbor bitterness or resentments towards us, and He doesn’t get tired of being around us. God is love. He is what love is supposed to really be. I can’t wrap my mind fully around His love, but don’t you just want to live in it and enjoy it? Don’t you want to just dance with Him and talk and be with Him? He adores you. He takes great delight in you and rejoices over you with singing. This is our God.
