I read a cool devotional the other night about God telling us not to be afraid. In Luke 2, an angel appeared to some shepherds in a field and told them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10). The devotion's author Jon Walker noted, "perhaps, we are afraid of living apart from the mythology that we must be good enough for God. Yet, the good news of great joy is that you don't have to be good enough: Jesus is good enough on your behalf!"
Walker goes on to encourage readers to shake off your fears and chase God rather than perfection. We are so accustomed to earning love, it's hard to fathom unconditional love let alone know how to respond to it. He adds, "God doesn't love you because you are the best in your class or because you try really hard. God's love needs no because; he unconditionally loves you - period."
It sounds so simple on paper and yet I feel our instinct is still to check things off and earn approval... earn love. Our parents are supposed to love us unconditionally, but I know many of us still find ourselves trying to do things to please them. Our methods may change as we get older, but sometimes we join clubs or sports teams for our parents or maybe we buy them certain gifts or choose schools or jobs based on them... I'm hoping parents can show their children unconditional love, but I know it's not universal.
I'm wondering if we can separate love from approval. Earlier I used them interchangeably, but God said he loves us unconditionally... I don't think unconditional approval is included in that... but I also think the point may be approval isn't a stipulation of love... or at least not unconditional love just based on the definition.
Can we chase after God and leave our need for approval behind? Can we accept unconditional love knowing we can never be good enough?
Here's to the chase...
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