You Can’t Fall In Love With God
(Happy Valentine’s Day)
I was making dinner in the kitchen when I heard a teenager say it on TV: “I love you…but I’m not in love with you.” It was a reason he gave for them to break up.
My right hand slowly stirred the caramelizing onions, but my mind raced to a theme in Colossians: “In Christ all things hold together.” Then, to Acts: “In him we live, and move, and have our being.” Then, to Isaiah: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
God’s love is not the kind you fall in or out of. It’s something you can forget, no doubt. We’ve all got a bad case of amnesia when it comes to the depth of God’s love, but thank God, God’s memory is just fine. Every day, he writes “I love you” on sticky notes of sunrises, generous surprises, swells of hope in seas of despair, glimpses of things-being-made-right, overwhelming peace in a world on fire, and infusions of courage to do scary things.
God’s love is tenacious like that. It’s fundamental to our survival like oxygen or water or light. But many of us spend our days like fish searching for water in the ocean, unaware that we are being held together by Christ. We are held together by a God who is love (1 John 4:8) and the way we abide in that love is by loving one another (1 John 4:12).
That’s right. One cure to your amnesia—one way to stop searching for water while surrounded by it—is not just being loved, but loving others. This is how we linger. How we stay awake. How we remember the reason we live and move and have our being. Being loved and also loving. Receiving and also giving. We feast on the love of God, but we do not hoard. Instead, like bread, we break, bless, and share the gift we have received—feeding a hungry world.
We do not offer something God has withheld from them. God does not withhold love, God demonstrates it. It’s not like passing out exclusive candy. It’s more like teaching folks to whistle: “Here, watch me. This is how I learned. Yep, now you try. Beautiful!”
In Christ, everyone lives and moves and exists. In Christ, all things are held together. In Christ, everyone can learn to whistle. Everyone can love and be loved.
God’s love is like oxygen: if it didn’t exist, you wouldn’t be here… but it’s easy to forget how much you need it till you’re running a 5k and out of breath on mile 1. But every time you gasp, there’s ample air to refuel your lungs.
Every time you remember your need, God has more than enough love to fill you up. You can’t fall in love with God… because you’ve never been out of it.
Sending love,
Savannah