God's Big Red Heart

Amid the gray cold skies of January fast appears and approaches the red hearts of Valentines Day.

The one day a year when people act like they're playing roles in a Hallmark movie. You know the stories where people fall in love with a look or a glance,and where you know he’s not the one because he didn’t get the bright eye treatment from her.. People who fall in love that fast probably leave relationship just as fast.

Jesus gets us beyond sentiment and one layer of chocolate with love God, Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus shows us that God shaped his whole life to be in a relationship with you and Jesus shows us who are neighbor is.

This Valentine's season I mean it’s already decorating the landscape, allow yourselves and your heart to face Jesus and his heart. You’re not your wallet, you’re not your house, you’re not your car, you’re not your GPA – you’re not even your family. You’re what Jesus thinks of you, because Jesus is God, and Jesus is your neighbor. You can never fully know yourself, but you can be fully known: Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. Jesus is hurt by thoughtless things you never knew you’d done, and delighted by unconscious gestures you never realized you’d made. He understands the fear that makes you cruel and the joy that makes you generous. He rejoices in the very thrill of your existence, is tender and close to you when you are curved in on yourself, is overjoyed in the very moment of your repentance, is exultant as you spread your wings to fly in his Spirit. Jesus is the heart within your heart. And he adores you.

If none of this were true, of course we’d be selfish. Selfishness says, “No one’s looking out for me, so I’d better take as much as I can while I can so I have plenty for when things turn bad.” Selfishness says, “The truth about me is terrible, so I’m going to get all I can and pig out all I can until someone finds out the truth about me and the game’s up.” Selfishness isn’t a sign of too much self-love: it’s quite the opposite. It’s a sign of profound insecurity. It’s a moment of panic that says there’s no eternal assurance and so I must grab and go.

When you hear the words “Love your neighbor as yourself,” swap the words round and say, “Love yourself as your neighbor.” In other words, regard yourself among all the neighbors God calls you to love. God’s got a lot to be doing with his whole creation, but the wonderful thing is, he’s chosen to start with you. The language of altruism never really grasps this. It makes loving others seem impossibly hard work, because it assumes that you have to choose between loving yourself and loving others. But God loves every one of us while still loving each of us as if we were the only one. We’re able to love others because of the way God loves us. And to accept that love, we have to learn to love ourselves.

God is longing to love you. You’ve tried to build yourself up on your own strength and on other people’s approval. It’s not working. Maybe it’s time you learned to accept that God adores you. God knows you inside out and yet he still adores you. You’ll begin to see yourself as God sees you, gloriously made, profoundly confused, but bursting with gifts and delights. You’ll stop looking relentlessly for rewards and recognition. You will become God’s big Red heart.

Happy Valentine's Day.