Thursday, October 11, 2007

We Don't Deserve God's Love?!

I keep running into things that have my mind getting impassioned. I guess it's good for that to happen some, otherwise my mind doesn't have anything interesting to talk about. I don't want to overdo it, though. One of the most recent things I was reading about was how we don't deserve to be in God's presence, and we don't deserve God's love, and we don't deserve God's forgiveness... I feel angry at reading things like that. Those three sentences have no meaning-one can't deserve any of that-you can't deserve love or forgiveness or to be in someone's presence. Those things are not on a measuring stick, there are no love points to be earned. To say one doesn't deserve to be loved is a horrible negative statement which only purpose seems to be to tell people how worthless and insignificant they are. People are not worthless and insignificant! We all matter to God, we all have value to God. I think it is utterly defeating to tell a person "God loves you so much, even though you don't deserve it." What? What's the point in telling them God loves them when you just made them not worthy of love? There is going to be a big wound in people who believe such statements, for they really say "You are not lovable." Why isn't the statement "God loves you" no, "Even though..."? There should never, ever be any "buts" when it comes to love. "I love you, but" is not a love statement. Adding 'deserve' to a love statement contradicts the love statement. Who would tell their children "I love you even though you don't deserve it"? I don't think anyone but the most sick parents would say such a thing. I read in a short story that we do not deserve to be in God's presence. What a painful thing to say! They were comparing us to a dog who wandered into an orchestra-I bet that no one said or thought "That dog does not DESERVE to be here!" No, that would be stupid, and yet when it comes to us appearing in the orchestra of God, they have the gall to say "Even though we don't deserve to be there". Don't deserve? What does deserving have to do with anything?! Ugh!