Free Ride

This journey we are on requires a lot of effort.

We are a group of misfit seekers longing for redemption, clarity, and freedom.

We have worked hard to escape the mucky pit of ashes we left behind.

We have come so far! It's so easy to forget that!

We should stop for a moment and be proud of the hard work and effort we have put into fighting for our freedom.

There is one thing we don't have to fight for.

God's love.

God loves us just as we are.  

He loved us then, even at our worst, and He loves us now, even when we stumble.

God's love is a free ride, an effortless and no-cost gift requiring only a willing heart.

No effort or cleanup is required.

Most days, I forget what a gift that kind of unearned love is.

I get focused on the stuff of the world and find myself whining and complaining about things that really don't matter.

I worry about things I can't control and long for things I don't have. I waste time regretting the past or fearing the future.

I take my life for granted and often forget about the free gift of unconditional love God offers me every moment of every day.

But then I remember.

I remember how awesome it is to feel unconditionally loved. How wonderful it is to be forgiven and wanted. How fortunate I am to have been found by God and for Him to repurpose my life into something worthwhile.

I spent SO many years feeling like I was not enough and had to work hard to earn love.

I am getting all verklempt over here as I seriously ponder the beautiful, unconditional, free ride that is God's love.

The awareness that God loves me just as I am fills me with gratitude and urges me to treat others with the same unconditional kindness God has shined upon me.

I suppose that's a better choice than judging, whining or complaining.

So today, I will enjoy the free ride, admire the view this precious life offers, and smile as I dump kindness everywhere I go.

Who's with me?

Let's GOOOOOOOOOO!

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God's love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace [God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].

John 3: 16-17

'This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.