LOVED TO OVERFLOWING

Here’s one more re-posted blog in honor of the “Known” virtual conference I’m speaking at, which runs from October 10-31.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that making disciples is the art of letting God’s truth and love fill me up until it spills out into others’ lives quite (super) naturally.

When I love Him back, love increases.

When I share it with others, love multiplies.

Yet it’s difficult to give away God’s love if you have trouble receiving it in the first place.

LOVE BLOCKAGES

Sometimes the way we think about God and ourselves creates a blockage between us, just as cholesterol clogs an artery.

Maybe you think some things in your past are too awful to forgive. Or it’s difficult to imagine God ever loving you quite the same, even if He did forgive you.

Maybe you’ve kept God at a polite distance for years, for reasons even you don’t fully understand. Of course you respect Him and obey Him, and you know He’s officially “good” and “righteous.” But the prospect of a close emotional connection with Him feels foreign or scary—maybe even impossible.

If what I just described feels strangely familiar, let me ask you something.

Do you have young children in your life?

(kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews)

If so, why do you love them? What is it about their messy, whiney, peanut-butter-covered, “me-me-mine” little selves that leaves you feeling so enamored?

Ah, I see.

They’re sweet, adorable, and give you hugs and kisses whenever the mood strikes them. Yeah, that’s pretty compelling.

But let me ask you this.

In a different mood, wouldn’t they just as soon pummel you with oatmeal as look at you? Don’t they also try your patience, spend your money, hurt your feelings, and drive you to the point of distraction?

Yet when push comes to shove, the bottom-line reason most parents give for why they love their children is simple.

Because they’re mine.

Right?

So let me ask you…

Why should your Heavenly Father feel any different about you?

You’re made in His image. You’re a priceless original. You’re His beloved one-of-a-kind daughter, created to be the object of His boundless affection. He knows you by name, delights in you, and longs to have intimate friendship with you—warts, bruises, sins, mistakes, peanut-buttery fingers and all.

And because He loves you, He also loves that pouring into others will increase your joy and accelerate your growth like nothing else. Because a flowing river is always more full of life than a stagnant pond.

And nothing but loved-to-overflowing abundance will do for His precious blood-bought girls!

IT’S YOUR TURN

Helping others walk out their redemption was meant to be part of your full-circle experience in Christ. The Father knew that helping others press enter on their relationship with Jesus would deepen your roots in Him and provide exactly the kind of far-reaching legacy your heart longs for.

So what are you waiting for?

Like a mighty army of pedicured warriors, let’s drink in His truth, feed on His love, and follow our General into the spiritual battle we were born for.

Let’s go and make disciples!