Ephesians 2:4-5 – Far More Life

Be Loved

Our purpose on earth is to be loved and to glorify God.

When a friend shared this statement from her pastor with me, I expected to hear, “Our purpose is to love.” I was surprised to hear “…to be loved.” I usually think my purpose is giving to God rather than receiving from Him. But as I contemplated this statement, I realized far more life is only possible if we accept God’s love, if we allow ourselves to be loved by Him.

What Bible verses support this idea that God’s purpose for us is to be loved by Him? Several!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NIV)
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (I John 4:9, NIV)
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:10, NIV)
We love because he first loved us. (I John 4:19, NIV)

Jesus came to earth to become the ultimate expression of God’s love for us. That is how serious God is about us receiving His love — He sent His Son to die in our place and make a relationship possible! We are the only beings created in His image (Genesis 1:26), which leads me to believe He has a special purpose for us. He wants us to experience His love in all of its richness and wonder.

We can get caught up in trying to earn His love, trying to do enough or be enough to win His favor. But that is not God’s plan for us. In fact, it is impossible. No matter how “good” we are, we will always fall short of his standard: perfection. Yet He wants to shower us with His love, offers to fill us to overflowing, and give His daughters the gift of far more life.

… God is love. (I John 4:8, NIV)

God is the source of love — it is who He is! So, of course, He wants to share His love with us.

But it may be hard for us to accept His love for several reasons. First, we know that we do not deserve it. While we are flawed, He is perfect. In reality, that perfection enables Him to love us unconditionally despite our flaws. It is reassuring to remember He loves us because of His character, not because of ours. In fact,

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (Lamentations 3:22, NIV)

It is also hard to accept His love because we feel obligated to give something back. But what can we possibly give God? I had a friend who would not accept God’s love because she said it was too big; she realized she could never repay Him, so she preferred to say “no, thank you” to His offer of love. Fortunately, God does not expect us to pay for His love, He offers it as a gift:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ …and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8, NIV)

Finally, it is hard to be loved by God because we fear giving up control to Him. Part of us longs to be under His authority and protection, but another part questions His trustworthiness. It feels safer to think we are in charge of our own lives, making the decisions that will lead to the best life possible. But who always knows what is best? Who is wise and never makes a mistake? Who can see the future? God, in His perfect love, wants to free us from fear, worry, and doubt. The better we know Him, the more secure we become in His love and the more we understand and embrace this truth:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (I John 4:18, NIV)

We find far more life when we embrace our purpose of being loved by God. Early in my Christian life I was so afraid of displeasing God that I was often paralyzed from living for Him. Every night I pored over my day, seeking to remember every sin I had committed; I was desperate to make sure God understood that I did not take His forgiveness for granted. I believed my purpose was to confess my sin and how I was undeserving of God’s love. It was only after I learned the security of God’s love that I could relax and really accept His love. I still did not take His forgiveness for granted, but now I was free not only be loved, but also love Him back. I experienced gratitude rather than fear. I wanted to honor Him with my life, because I recognized it was a precious gift. I discovered that far more life runs toward God and His transforming love.

Your purpose is to be loved by God and glorify Him. Far more life is waiting for you, wrapped up in God’s love. Let yourself be loved today!

Sisters,
Can you accept your purpose of being loved by God?
What makes it hard for you to accept His love: Thinking you need to earn it? Believing you owe Him? Fear of giving control over to Him?
What Biblical truth helps you accept His love?
Commit today to let Him love you…and show you far more life.
-Shari

Far More Passion

When we started this blog journey, I promised we would discover our passion. I expected to discuss spiritual gifts and the satisfaction we find serving God and blessing others using the traits He wired into us. But that is not where the path has led.

As each week’s post comes together, a new perspective on passion is taking shape in my heart and mind. Using our gifts may be a way to express our passion, but recognizing the source of our passion is the key to sustaining far more life. If we want far more life moments, our passion needs to be fed. But what is the source? Fortunately it is revealed in Scripture:

But God was very, very kind. He loved us very, very much. We were dead because of the wrong things we had done. He has made us alive with Christ. You have been saved by his love and kindness. (Ephesians 2:4-5, WE)
…I also pray that love may be the ground into which you sink your roots and on which you have your foundation. This way, with all of God’s people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is. You will know Christ’s love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God. (Ephesians 3:17b-19, GW)

God’s love is our source of passion! It is the foundation on which far more life is built. As our understanding grows our passion is sparked. We discover far more life is only found in God. And it is not something we keep inside, it shines for all to see. Far more life is not really about us; it is about Him.

If you discovered the cure for cancer, wouldn’t you be passionate about sharing it with everyone suffering from that dreadful disease? If a doctor introduced you to that cure, wouldn’t you tell everyone about him or her as well? Of course you would! Sin is like spiritual cancer, and you have discovered the cure: perfect love! More importantly, you have a relationship with God who is Perfect Love!

Curing cancer — of the physical or spiritual variety — does not just prevent you from dying. It also offers you life. And once you have been rescued from death, you want to experience and share far more life with everyone who crosses your path! You are passionate about the cure and the One who cures. Living out this verse becomes your desire:

Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus. (Colossians 3:17, ERV)

To our sinful nature, this verse can sound like a heavy burden to carry, one more expectation placed on us. But when we read it with a heart that is full of God’s love, it resonates with us and motivates us to respond. Living for Jesus in all we say and do is far more life! It expresses exactly what we want to do as a new creation in Him. It satisfies us and fulfills us because it is what we were designed to do. It is not a burden or an expectation. It is our response to receiving His love.

We can tackle any task with passion when we remember Who we are doing it for and why He deserves our best. When we understand and remember His love for us, we are motivated to love Him back. We are wise to adopt the instruction given to slaves just a few verses later:

Whatever you do, do it from the heart…you serve the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24, CSV)

When I grow weary in the middle of task, this verse encourages me to keep going. I ask myself, “If I was doing this for Jesus, would I be satisfied to stop now?” Usually the answer is no. I want to give Jesus my best. So I can cheerfully keep going — whether I am serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, or showing mercy — when I picture Jesus on the receiving end. I may not be passionate about the particular task, but I can be passionate about loving Jesus and being a vessel of His love to the people around me.

Let’s be honest: there are some things that we naturally enjoy more than others. It is okay to prefer babysitting a friend’s children over holding her hand through a medical procedure. It is okay to prefer giving money to hire a job done more than leading a work crew doing the task. It is okay to prefer writing one person an encouraging note over leading a large group Bible study. There is a variety of needs around us, so God has given us a variety of gifts and skills to meet them. Thankfully if we look around we can usually see a place to serve God and others that we will enjoy. But the fact remains: whether we are doing something we enjoy or something we don’t, we can always do it to the best of our ability with a passion for God. We can always choose far more life.

Sisters,
What reminds you of the vastness of God’s love for you?
Does that make you passionate for God today?
If your passion is weak right now, will you invest in better understanding God’s love for you?
Adopt the mindset that you are working for Jesus this week. What changes do you notice in your feelings, thoughts, and actions?
Enjoy far more life growing your passion this week!
-Shari

What is Far More Life?

One of my favorite Bible verses is John 10:10 where Jesus says, “I came to bring them life, and far more life than before” (Phillips). Did you catch that: Jesus brought us FAR MORE LIFE! But “far more” in what sense? There are some parts of life where far more is appealing. And other parts where far more would be overwhelming. Maybe your life is good. Or at least good enough. But what if it could be better?

First Jesus offers life, not the physical life we are already experiencing, rather spiritual life. We have some good experiences in life, but in our hearts we know something is missing or dead. A meaning, a purpose, a connection. The Apostle Paul explained, “We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God’s wonderful kindness is what saves you” (Ephesians 2:4-5 CEV). It’s God, our Creator, that is missing! Sin separates from God even though a part of us longs to connect with Him. In His wonderful kindness, God made a way for us to reconnect through Jesus. Jesus took the punishment for our sin, saving us from what we deserved. He then overcame death and earned the right to offer us a restored relationship with God. This restored relationship is spiritual life. And it lasts forever. Spiritual life is the best gift we could ever hope to receive. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He went on to offer us far more life.

Before Jesus walked this earth, people who wanted to please God had to follow a lot of rules — over 600 of them — governing all aspects of life from the food they ate to who they touched and from personal grooming to when they could work. People followed this set of rules, referred to as “the Law” in the Scriptures, in an effort to lead a good life and make God happy. But it was impossible to keep all the rules, and it took a lot of energy to even try. Even then, James 2:10 tells us God’s perspective: “Remember that a man who keeps the whole Law but for a single exception is none the less a law-breaker” (Phillips). What a difficult situation! When Jesus said “far more life,” His audience may have heard “far fewer rules” and had hope that they could finally please God.

When Jesus was asked which of the 600+ rules were most important, He didn’t give a top 10 list. He summarized them ALL in just TWO commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” and “Love others as much as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40 CEV). That’s it! To experience far more life: love God and love people. So simple to understand. Yet so hard to live.

Love the Lord. With all your heart, soul, and mind. This is an all-in love that directs each thought, feeling, word, and action. It is the outgrowth of a restored relationship with God; the life inside prompts us to be like Him, the perfect depiction of love. When we let this love direct us, we find a satisfaction and richness that was missing before. We experience far more life than before.

But there’s more! As we grow to understand God’s love our view of people — including ourselves — changes. We can examine both faults and strengths, seeing people as neither better nor worse than they truly are. We can celebrate strengths and help each other use them to live out our love for God. And we can work together to overcome faults so that they no longer control us. We can experience far more life through a healthy love for ourselves and others than we ever thought was possible. This doesn’t happen overnight. And the process can be painful.

You see, while having the power to transform every aspect of our life, far more life does not make us exempt from trouble. Instead it offers a different perspective on our problems. Jesus said, “While you are in the world, you will have to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated the world” (John 16:33 CEV). Far more life lets us focus on the future, on our eternal relationship with God, and live out each challenge with peace, hope, and joy in our hearts. We understand the temporary nature of this world and anticipate the perfection — far more life than we can imagine — that awaits us.

Sisters,
Do you want to start experiencing far more life now?
Will you risk letting go of what is good to pursue something better?
I can’t promise the road will be easy, but I guarantee the destination is worth the effort.
You will lose some baggage along the way, and you may find your passion.
Join me on the journey to discover and embrace far more life with Jesus.
-Shari