"For the soul that beholdeth the fair nature of our Lord Jesus, it hateth no hell but sin, as to my sight."
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 76)
Sometimes a person may ask, "If we learn that God is all love and never punishes or gets angry with us, won't that just make people go out and sin more, knowing that God will love and forgive them anyway and not punish them?" But really the opposite is true. Oftentimes when people grow up thinking that God is angry, judgmental and punishing, they can be afraid of God, resentful of God, and even become angry and judgmental themselves, projecting onto others the judgment they think God is putting onto them. But when people find out that God is not an angry or punishing judge but a loving Father who has a blanket of forgiveness and acceptance extending to us at all times, that there is nothing we could do that would make God get angry with us or reject us, it is transforming. When we find that we are loved unconditionally now and forever, safe in the arms of God, accepted as we are and actually His beloved children, it can help that judgmental or angry or fearful person relax, feel loved and accepted, and start to feel safe with God, trusting towards God, and even loving towards God, themselves and others. They start to extend the love they feel from God to other people. They find they don't want to hate or be angry or judging anymore. They find they want to love others because we are all God's children and often just act out of fear or hurt or wrong images of God or ourselves. It is the true picture of God's nature that changes people from wanting to sin to actually not wanting to sin but instead wanting to love. To be unloving becomes the worst thing, and to be loving becomes the best thing.
Jesus came to the earth to show us the true nature of God. He showed us a God that loved little children, ate with tax collectors, did not condemn sinners but empowered them to go free. He showed us a God that healed the sick and took time with the outcasts, went around doing good things for people, fed the hungry, gave hope to the struggling, and wept with those who were sad. He showed us a God that celebrated with the happy and took care of the weak, that befriended the lonely and believed in those that others disdained. He showed us a God that brought an end to people's suffering, gave sight to the blind, took care of the poor, and forgave those who hated and persecuted and killed Him. He showed us a God in love with humanity and made us fall in love with Him too.
And that is how it is. When we see Him for who He is, the Love that takes our breath away, that we have longed for but only dreamed of, and we know that we are taken in and accepted just as we are, lifted up out of despair, and given hope and life, healing and belonging, it is like falling in love. We are captivated by a Love that is so wonderful and so healing and so tender and so accepting that we just fall in love and all we want to do is be with our Lover, receive and bask in this love and love back. We just want to love ourselves and love everybody around us. We just want to share the love. The last thing we want to do is be unloving (sin). All we want to do is love. For to be filled up with His love is to be filled up with His Spirit, and to be filled with His Spirit is not to fulfill any desires or temptations to sin coming to the flesh. That is what knowing Him is like. That is what it is like to live not by rules or religion but romance! That is what it is like to be swept up in the arms of Christ. That is what it is like to be loved by a love that will never reject you and never let you go, a love that fills you up with joy and peace and fulfills all your dreams for tenderness, acceptance and belonging. This is what it is like to be loved by God and filled with God and watch that love and fullness overflow to those around you!
"We love, because He first loved us."
1 John 4:19 (TLV)
"We’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him."
1 John 3:2 (NLT)
A Prayer: Being loved by You just makes me love, too!