There is probably nothing as soul-destroying as living a meaningless life. Meaninglessness traps you in the snare of spending your attention and time on pointless pursuits, only to feel even more devoid of purpose in hindsight. The sad reality is that many Christians experience their lives as meaningless.
Children leave the nest, and suddenly there is a void; a spouse passes away, and life loses its meaning. Naturally, you are allowed to grieve! But if your sense of purpose depends on other people, then you will soon be confronted with meaninglessness because there will come a time when you are alone – without people around you! What then?
The only source of a meaningful life is discovering that you are passionately loved by God! Passionately! The English word “passionately” comes from a Greek word meaning “to suffer.” It is not you who loves so passionately that it hurts; it is God!
We can never truly speak of love – in fact, we don’t even know what love is – if we don’t first speak of the love God has for us! “God is love” (1 John 4:11a). Any other perception of God is false because the final word about God is our confession of faith: God loves us. Passionately. Only then does John continue: “And whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in them” (11b).
St. Teresa of Avila (16th century) wrote: “It is only love that gives value to all things.” Love has a starting point: it begins with God.
Do you want to love fearlessly? You cannot do it on your own. It’s as simple as that. Not if you’ve never experienced it yourself. Not if you’ve never come to know God’s love. Not if you are not overwhelmed by God’s love. Until then, you will never be able to do so.
PRAYER: I love You, oh Lord, deepen my love!
ART: Peter Clarke; Spring Landscape, Tesselaarsdal, Caledon
MUSIC: Today, we look at the lyric video of “The Love of God” by The N Crew. The lyrics appear on the video. The lyrics and music are by Frederick Martin Lehman.