You Shall Know They Are Christians

Imagine giving a description of what God is like to somebody who had never heard of Him. How would you describe Him to them in a short summary?

I hope you would mention God's love in your description. Since that is the essence of His nature, to do justice to any description of Him requires that we talk about His love. If the world only understood the truth about the love of Father, so many more would come to Him in faith. Sadly, their understanding is often a distorted caricature of who He really is.

One reason it is so important to understand and accept your Father's love is because we all eventually become like the whatever we imagine God to be. People trapped in legalism see God as a judgmental, cosmic eye-in-the-sky who is watching and waiting for them to mess up in the way they live. They imagine that how they behave is what matters most to Him. Consequently, that's the kind of person they become in the way they relate to other people. They become harsh parents, demanding friends, dictator-type pastors, etc.

What they need is to understand the agape love of their Father. That's where you come into the picture. As a grace-walking evangelist, you will become more and more effective in sharing His love with others as you become more and more persuaded of how much He loves you. You won't have to struggle to witness, but will be a witness because you can do no less than point people to Him through your walk and your words.

Jesus Christ is head over heels in love with you. Have you become fully persuaded of that truth? He plans to spend eternity proving His love to you in ways beyond your wildest dreams. His love is pure, yet passionate. It is an objective fact with profound subjective implications for your life. He longs for you to know how much He loves you, to feel how much He loves you and to see how much He loves you.

As the revelation of God's extravagant love becomes more and more real to us, love becomes our trademark, our identifying characteristic. It's what we're known for, just like love is what God is known for too. More will be said as you move through this week's studies about sharing God's love. For now, make a mental note that as you experience deeper intimacy with Him, you will become more and more like your Father. The outcome of that is that you will find yourself becoming more loving to everybody.

If others were to describe the kind of person you are right now, what would they say? Would they use the word "loving" in their description? What one word would each of these people use to describe you?

Your mate? Your children?

Your best friend? Your co-workers?

People at church? Your neighbors?

Don't condemn yourself if you can't imagine some of these people using the word "loving" to describe you. Transformation is gradual, but it will come to you as you continue to grow in intimacy with God.

As you experience your Father's love, you will begin to express it more and more to other people. Some people you encounter won't immediately accept it though. Be prepared that some will resist because it doesn't make sense to them.

Some will caution you against the dangers of shallow emotionalism. That viewpoint isn't totally wrong. There are those who reduce their understanding of the relationship they have to Christ to the place of emotionalism. Nobody would deny that, but there is an equal or maybe even greater danger that people will spend the rest of their lives relating to God only through their minds. Religious intellectualism is just as far out of bounds as emotionalism.

The idea of unconditional love from God is hard for some people. They will ask questions like:

What if I turned my back on God and renounced Him?
What if I intentionally committed a horrible sin?
What if I am spiritually lukewarm?
What if I lose faith?
What if...?

There are a thousand "what-ifs" people can ask as they struggle with the idea of unconditional love. The reason they have such a hard time believing that nothing can stop God from loving them is because it isn't normal. In fact, it's not even human. It is divine. Unconditional love is rarely seen in this world. Sadly, that's true even among Christians. If you doubt it, just watch what happens when a Christian falls into sin.

That's why it is so important for you to determine to cling to the truth of God's love. Don't back down on your belief about it for anything. It is the only thing in existence that cannot fail you. "Love never fails," said Paul in that famous love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 and that is the truth.

Stand strong in the truth about God's unconditional love. In time, you will become known for it. It will become your trademark, not a bad way to be known!

-- This article is an excerpt from my book, Journey Into Intimacy. Find out more about the book by clicking this link: http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=525