3 Ways God's Love Should Change How Christians Live

Audio By Carbonatix

1. God's Love Brings Freedom

Knowing that your unique set of needs, passions, ideas, quirks, and skills are something to be celebrated not forced into fitting our culture's very one-size-fits-all ideas for a good life should bring us such freedom! As we are growing, there are so many of us who want only to be like those around us, but as Christ's followers, we are invited to take the path less traveled. It's an uncomfortable feeling at first but once we begin to taste God's goodness that abounds when we are obedient we see that there is such joy in taking this less traveled way that keeps us close to Him.

I remember the first time I began to feel God calling me out of the life I thought I should live. When I became a Mom my plan was to keep working and space my kids out accordingly so I could afford a job and a career. I never saw my future as a stay at home parent as a college educated woman. Then that first precious bundle came into my life, a clear image bearer, and I felt God asking me to trust him to make way for me to leave my full-time job in favor of taking on the hardest job ever, which was being a stay-at-home parent.

I had to trust him as I was breaking free from a mold that had been forced on me but not one that reflected the true desires of my heart. Over the next 12 years as a parent he has used this role to stretch me out of what I thought was reasonable towards something much less conventional and definitely less practical. That's my story of stepping out on the waters of faith, seeing that God has a just me story to tell. As we see God's calling, whatever it may be for us, as our primary objective, we find freedom from the world's conventions that only God's love can offer.

2. God's Love Is Affirming

God's truth is so much bigger than what our world is striving for. At the center of it, God's mission is for His created people to know His love so they can flourish. God's love is affirming because, with him, differences are not a mistake; they are an expression of his creativity.

Consider apples. There are multiple types of apples, some sour, others tangy, and some sweet. They are all apples but each a little different, offering something different to appreciate about how they taste and look. Just in the same way we are all human but we each come with a little different flare! God's plan is to show off his wonder through his amazingly unique spectrum of created people.

You don't have to change your brand of student, spouse, worker, creator, gender, or anything else that has been imprinted on your DNA to be worthy of love. You are just right, just as you were formed in the womb. God designed you on purpose, and we can celebrate the ways that your unique design makes this world a brighter place.

3. God's Love Says Each Life Matters

When we see that God's new creation has eternal implications we see that this life is no trivial matter. It's not just about YOLO-ing; we are actually called to store up treasure in Heaven that will last for eternity (Matthew 6:19-21)! As those who each have a role to play in making space for life to flourish as God intended, how we invest in those around us has eternal ramifications.

When we make choices about how to live and what issues we take a stand for, protecting life and pushing back against injustice should be a Christian priority. There are applications for this truth in almost every possible situation we find ourselves in.

As parents, this belief compels us to parent with biblically-based intentionality. At our work it moves us to be diligent, honest, kind, and thoughtful about how our actions impact our work community. As a church we serve others in love because we value the Saints we've been blessed to do life alongside. In civic life we vote, we pray, and we engage however we can to protect life. As a spouse, we honor one another because, at the end of the day, your significant other is a child of God first and foremost and is worthy of love and respect.

As you go forward, remember that God's love for us is the foundational truth of our faith. Don't lose sight of its meaning and applications. Remember he gave his life for us so we might live, and live with abundance. There are so many ways to get distracted from the basics of our faith. Come back to his love and be inspired anew in how to spread that love through your daily life.