All Are Loved

I love the Genius setting on iTunes.  I never know what’s coming next…

Yesterday a song I forgot I had came on and really capped some time I’d spent in Isaiah 58 (more on that later).

You see, if we are honest with ourselves, at times we read John 3:16 as, “For God so loved those we deem lovely and likable, that He sent His Son…” instead of “For God so loved the world [read: everyone], that He sent His Son…”.

We love those who:

look like us,

agree with our opinions,

are kind and don’t hurt or hate,

you know…the people who meet the standards that we set for “acceptable behavior” (even though in our hearts, we often don’t meet them).

We forget that God – the One who loved and loves perfectly and with purity – sets the standard for love: ALL ARE LOVED.

God’s love is hard to accept and understand at times – let alone model.

Chew on the lyrics to this song:

THAT GUY
Andy Gullahorn

He scoped out the market
All the women and kids
With so many distractions
Nobody noticed him
Nobody noticed him
He had a jacket a size too big
A skullcap on his head
And a couple of homemade bombs
He duct taped them to his chest
He taped them to his chest

God loves that guy
God loves that guy

He followed his heart
To a co-worker’s bed
He could have salvaged his marriage with kids
But he chose to leave instead
He chose to leave
He thought it was love
But it was just a mirage
So he sits in his idling car
Parked in a closed garage
Inside a closed garage

God loves that guy
God loves that guy

Me on the other hand I can write somebody off
Like the last check for a student loan
I can love when it’s convenient
But it’s not always convenient
It’s not always the easy road
I want to look past the outside to the well-meaning heart
To the good they forgot that they had
Teach me to love, teach me to love
Teach me to love like that

He messed up again
Wanted to disappear
But he can’t ‘cause he’s easy to find
I see him in the mirror
I see him in the mirror

God loves that guy
God loves that guy
Teach me to love, teach me to love
Teach me to love like that
Love like that

x

From Isaiah 58:

⁹ “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry [or the “hard-to-love”] and satisfy the needs of the oppressed [love like Jesus loved], then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

I pray that I would love others like Christ loves me…