This is probably the role of Jesus with which I am the most comfortable. It’s so familiar to me it’s like sliding into my favorite pair of jeans. They’ve gone so many places with me, been through so many things and I feel good when I put them on, a little more like myself.
I grew up knowing Jesus was about the sinner, the crestfallen, the outsider, the sick, the confused, the injured, the outcast, the black sheep. I have never one time seriously considered that God could stop loving me or even wanted to. God loves me and everyone else and I knew that because of Jesus.
This belief has undoubtedly shaped me in the most intimate and defining of ways. I hold nothing back from God. Nothing! I share my Fury. Pride. Lust. Idiocy. My Bitterness. Successes. Confusion. Doubt. It’s all on the table because everything is safe.
I can earnestly say God is my best friend. There is nothing between us. I may get a concept or a law or circumstance stuck in my craw but I completely trust God to talk to about it. I literally never worry it’s unwelcome or will cause me rejection.
I will not say it is sufficient to end my sin but it is the fertile soil of opportunity out of which it grows.
This simple fact has driven me into any shred of righteousness or holiness or sacredness I possess or understand: I can’t undo God’s love for me (and neither can you).
It is from this place that I have found my footing to pursue a whole and holy life.
Our question for today was: Then how should we respond? My answer was this:
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