At Quest there is much talk about "experiencing God's love for yourself." This concept of getting a small understanding of just how much God values us individually is great for growing Christians. These moments are precious and can add to the many moments of growth for a believer. From my observations there are many misconceptions regarding this idea and will list them below in a Q&A format:
If I truly am a Christian should I be experiencing God's love all the time?
In short, no. God understands that our feelings are highly variable. Our relationship with Him is not subject to the whims of our feelings and emotions; rather our foundation is constant and stable in Christ.
If I have not experienced God's love am I a Christian?
Jesus explained very clearly in John 3:16 what denotes a Christian. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV) According to God's Word, the only requirement is belief. You don't have to experience God's love, only believe in it. Its that simple.
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Nice. Just Jesus and faith. Christianity made simple without the seemingly mystical mental and emotional acrobatics required. I'm pretty sure that the early church experienced the full range of emotions that the Father gave them without putting on a fake persona to the world around them and acting like people on way too much Prozac. They sure didn't have flashy lights and state of the art technology to play on people's emotions. They certainly had it a lot harder then the American post-modern mega-church crowd has it too. It was simply devotion to and faith in Jesus or nothing at all. They didn't let how they were feeling those days determine they were a child of the kingdom. They believed the promise that Jesus made to them and gave their lives to Him unto death if that was God's plan for them.
ReplyDeleteI've lost a friend over this. We used to be so close, then she "met Jesus" (I thought she had been saved several yers before. Obviously only God can judge the heart, but as far as I could tell, she really seemed to be in Christ).
ReplyDeleteFor quite a while she struggled deeply over not feeling God's love all the time. Once she told me someone in leadership was a recovering alcoholic and that if she ever relapsed, there was no guilt- she only felt God's love. And my friend banked on stories like that. She believed she didn't know Jesus because she didn't feel that way all the time. But then she had a full on God experience (very awesome! I don't doubt the credibility of her statements), and she believed she was REALLY saved then. She called and let me know all about it, then she told me to listen to the message that she heard when she gave Jesus everything- I listened and thought it was pretty good. But when I told her that, she questioned my salvation, then stopped talking to me altogether.
At first I was offended and defensive- even a little worried that I was wrong about my salvation. But then I really dove into God's Word and sought council from wise people I knew and came to the realization that I can trust my heart- God's heart in me. And that my foundation is on Christ alone.
But it still hurts deeply. I try to get in contact with her every now and then, but it's been almost 8 months now and we haven't spoken a word to each other. I don't know what to say or how to react. My chief concern is that she puts people of authority and their interpretation of the bible above the authority of the Holy Spirit and his Word.
But secondly, I just miss my friend.