God’s Love Is a Slap in the Face
Orphans try to prove their worth over and over. Sons are able to rest in their position at the table.
That’s not talking about physical orphans as much as spiritual ones. The mentality that says, “I’ll become more valuable than anybody else. I’ll be indispensable to God’s kingdom. I’ll progress until I reach the top.”
All the striving. All the frustration. We try to grow and push ourselves to be “better” and “stronger.” The justifications seem altruistic enough, but as most issues of the heart do, they come down to unbelief.
You don’t believe God’s love is enough. You don’t believe you have His attention so you set out in a constant frenzy of positioning yourself by whatever means you can get a hold of. New books, fasting, prayer, conferences, meetings, seminars, and so much more.
It’s as endless as it is pointless.
The fear is that if you don’t do all those things, God won’t see how valuable you are. He might drop you. God’s love looks that mindset square in the face then slaps the fire out of it.
It hurts to recognize that all your attempts at pleasing God and growing into spiritual maturity might be based not on the love He’s shown you but on a need to gain approval. SLAP!
It’s painful to admit your constant striving has produced little in the way of holiness and an over abundance of self-righteousness. SLAP!
God’s love slaps us in the face not as a judgment or punishment. It’s to bring us back to reality, to wake us up. And really it’s not even a slap to our true and authentic selves, who He created us and redeemed us to be. It’s a slap to the façade we like to pretend is helping but actually is hindering us. God will attempt over and over reach us with His love because He desperately wants to extricate us from living our lives as orphaned humanity does, trying to best everyone else and jockey for the highest place.
Jesus made it clear that the “greatest among you” will be the servant of all (Matthew 23:11). You can’t live that unless you know His love, and not in a mentally assenting sort of knowing, a real experience.
Brennan Manning writes,
What would I actually do if I had it to do all over again? Heeding [the Apostle] John’s counsel, I would simply do the next thing in love.
Living in the love of God doesn’t make me work harder. It makes me love more.
Have you found yourself trying to monitor spiritual growth and achieve? What has it produced in your life? Do you agree with my assessment?
Welcome to week 4 of our book club discussion of the Furious Longing of God (disclosure) by Brennan Manning. We are taking a sentence, paragraph, or passage that inspires, encourages, or challenges and writing about it. If you have a response on your blog, add it to the widget below. Either way, head over to my friend and co-facilitator, Sarah Salter’s blog for her thoughts. Whether you’ve read the chapter or not, please dive into the conversation!
I have to admit, this chapter didn’t flow for me so the point you dwell on, and on which Manning writes his discussion questions, didn’t sink in when I read it. Thank you for posting this, I’m going to re-read the chapter after this slap in the face.
Seeing this practically on a daily basis, how true it is that the “orphan” is always trying to prove him/herself. It is true spiritually too. Why is it so hard to accept that we’re adopted into God’s family and we share the same position as his own son, Jesus? We don’t need to prove ourselves. This hits home in more ways than one.
Frank recently posted..Intimate Union
I was a little distracted with this chapter because I kind of jumped to his point about “union” with last week’s post. And just so you know, I received the slap too. I thought about how many times I’ve anxiously tried to evaluate my spirituality as if it made a difference. If anything, it’s just a hindrance to knowing His love as He desires for us to know it. Thank you, Frank. So glad the post touched you as it did me.
The line that slapped me in the face was, “He wants more than a close relationship with you and me, He seeks nothing less than union.”
There is a difference. I can say that I have had a close relationship with God, but it’s that true unity He seeks. He knows us inside and out, and He wants us to know the same of Him; and the only way we get there is walking in unity.
Philip recently posted..Union
That’s a huge difference, isn’t it?! Many advocate closeness as evidence of intimacy with God, but they would be hesitant to go as far as union. Nothing less! He’s after all of us so that we can experience more of Him. Thanks Philip.
such a good word today…such a good word…
thanks Jason.
arny recently posted..5 REASONS I HATE BEING MARRIED:
Thanks so much, Arny. Glad that when I’m preaching to myself, others can benefit too.
I know I’m guilty of this. I feel I must “earn” love/respect in order to be “worthy” of love. God has been gently telling me there is nothing I can do or not do to make Him love me more. He’s helping me realize this by showing the faults of spiritual giants in the Bible. David was not perfect and yet he is described as a man after God’s heart.
It’s liberating when I realize I am loved simply because I breath.
It’s wonderful to know I am His, not because I earned it, but because I accepted His gift.
You’re so right. We don’t justify ourselves by others’ failures, but we can take joy in the fact that God continued to love and use them for His glory in spite of huge mistakes and deficiencies. “I am His” and there is nothing I or anyone else can do to change that. Thanks TC.
I have self diagnosed OCD tendencies, for what it’s worth. I’m the one who when playing Angry Birds or Cut The Rope has to get all the stars. If I don’t I feel as if I failed the level.
I’ve been guilty of the same type of mentality in regards to my spiritual growth. I must achieve xyz or I have failed.
The sad thing is, that mentality, is destined for failure. It does not allow room for God’s development for me. Instead it is me struggling to accomplish something I perceive will get me favor in His eyes.
There is nothing I can do that will increase, or decrease, God’s favor -- His love -- for me.
Dusty Rayburn recently posted..No One Excluded
I definitely know what you mean. I had so many other thoughts as I was writing, but didn’t want to muddy it up. For instance, a plant doesn’t worry about growing and it can’t do anything to make itself grow. It receives nourishment and care and naturally grows on its own because it was created with that capacity. Our brains get us in trouble! The OCD thing--I get it. We need a big a dose of that incredible love! Thanks Dusty.
We are captive to our flesh. Our senses betray us when we seek honor in our gifts in order to please God. He is the giver of our gifts, they’re not designed to impress Him, they are designed to be used for others so that they too might find rest in Him. It is our blessing to be able to see the gifts from God used to His glory. His glory is His desire and love for His creation! The world misses that point! It’s about the love He has for them. That is the glory!
I loved that paragraph from Manning’s book. The words preceding the sentence you quoted goes in depth to define glory that we seek in words of this world. It was robust and flowery, but fell woefully short of the love that God gives us to use on His creation.
The contrast for me really drove the point home.
Yeah, I agree about that quote. I didn’t use it because it was so long and I had rambled for quite a while, but it did drive the point home.
I think it’s one of those instances of remembering that we are in the world, but not of it. The systems, beliefs, and actions of people every day point to getting ahead in a manner completely opposite of God’s kingdom and what He has for His people. We have to keep our eyes on Him! Thanks Floyd.