To earn love

 Love as a Performance

I wrote elsewhere about the pressure to perform and today more than any other, people everywhere are anxiously practising their lines and checking their costumes and make-up for the big event! No-one wants to be alone. Some people learn to like it and say they prefer it but we were created for fellowship, thats simply the truth.

So we try to figure out what we need to do to get that special person to like us, or even maybe LOVE us and we jump through all these hoops to ensure this goal~ we are loved and accepted by the object of our affections.

Therefore we expect that same principle must apply when we fall in love with Jesus. We must earn his affection, praise and acceptance. We must study to show ourselves approved. Sadly this is scriptural. Mangled, but it is there in the bible 2 Timothy 2:15 refering to the study of the word to be able to rightly divide the truth.

Do we need to act a certain way to be acceptable to God, earn Jesus love, be accepted in the beloved? NO! The bible says again and again : while we were yet sinners Jesus died. He is not waiting for us to clean up our act, get dolled up and bring him a box of chocolates! Or put another way, he is not waiting for us to renounce our old life, get that tattoo removed and start handing out gospel tracts.

He already loves you and me more than we can ever know or imagine or comprehend and His love is not changed by out behaviour. He won't love you less because you fail or more because you win. His Love is determined by His character and He can't stop loving no matter what we do!

Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)

 ³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
 ³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

His love is not conditional, so there is no need to do anything to earn it!

I don't know about you but I love to be loved by Jesus. It is a love that has completely healed and set me free. I make different choices now and do that which I believe pleases Him but its motivated by love not by performance. I want to stay close to Jesus and whatever holds me back from unity and intimacy from Him I have willingly relinquished. It didn't happen overnight and its not over yet but this Romance is in full bloom.