April 9, 2021
Philippians 1:7-8
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
CONSIDER THIS
Paul not only loved the Philippians, he liked them.
God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
It’s been close to twenty years ago—I remember the day. I was pastoring the leaders of the biggest event I had ever been a part of (before or since). We gathered the evening before the event began for a time of consecration. As each of the leaders came forward and two or three of us would lay hands on them and pray prayers of blessing and consecration as they knelt to offer themselves for the Lord’s service.
As the time came to a close, one of the men who had been helping with this work caught my eye. He approached and asked if he could pray for me. As he prayed he broke pace with his words and moved into a kind of prophesying, as though he were speaking words straight from the heart of God into my deepest self. I will never forget those words. He said, “John David, you know I love you, but I need you to know that I don’t just love you. I like you. I want you to know that I like you.”
That moment changed me. It was an awakening to the affection of God—not for the world—but for me. I have carried those words with me ever since. It changed the way I understood the nature of the love of God. They also changed the way I understood the nature of loving other people.
God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
So many people understand the love of God as a kind of divine tolerance for them. As a result, the world often understands the love of the church and its members as the selfsame kind of tolerance (or not) for them. Then, by the grace of God, a follower of Jesus comes along and gets close enough to you to see you. They don’t see you through the lenses of either their own brokenness or their idealism (which are often two sides of the same coin). They have a mysterious capacity to see you like God sees you. Their love takes the form of a deep like. They don’t love you in spite of your brokenness or because of it. They like you just because of you.
These are the ones who know the aff ection of Christ Jesus for themselves. These are the ones who are learning to trust this aff ection so much so that they have learned to like themselves. And these are the ones who cause us to dare to believe something diff erent about God and about ourselves.
I’m going to tell you now what I believe may be the deepest, perhaps the hardest (and as a consequence, most neglected) truth of the gospel. We tend to believe our love for others originates from God’s love for us, and it does—just not how we think. Our love for others will never exceed our love for ourselves and our love for ourselves will never exceed our awareness and experience of God’s love for us. No one knew this better than Jesus, who put , this way: “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself'” (Matt. 22:39).
It’s why, in John’s gospel, Jesus brings the entire gospel down to a single command: “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
We must know, beyond knowledge, God’s love for us. In other words, you’ve got to know God likes you. This is the whole point of Jesus. It may be the most important question I will ever ask you: Do you know Jesus likes you?
As we go along we will see just how deeply Paul understood this. His affection for others flowed like a river from his affection for himself, which flowed like a river from his experience of Jesus’ affection for him. That’s the mystery and the miracle of the gospel. We can settle for no less ourselves.
THE PRAYER
Abba Father, we thank you for your son, Jesus, who likes us as much as he loves us. Fill us with this knowledge beyond mere acceptance of it. Make it our lives. We must know this, Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, and awaken us to this love in a way that all that holds us back can be pushed aside. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
THE QUESTIONS
- How do you relate to this idea of being liked by God and how that clarifies the nature of God’s love for you?
- Do you like yourself? Why or why not?
- How is it that we can put all the focus on loving our neighbor and none of the focus on loving ourselves when Jesus so directly connects the two?
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
2 Responses
I believe this perception of God’s love/like for us is a supernatural thing. In my opinion, this can only take place if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, the source of “living waters “ from which divine love flows. This is why Paul repeatedly exhorts us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
This devotional led me to think of the movie, “Chariots of Fire”. Eric Liddel is talking to his sister Jenny and says to her, “God made me for a purpose. But he also made me Fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” I was a senior in high school when I first watched this movie and it helped me to see God as someone who took joy in me and yes “liked” me! I can know I am in the center of His will when I feel His pleasure and His affection for me…no matter how hard the circumstances are! Thank you for showing me more of Paul and how he knew to reach the level of the person he was talking to and really connect with them. He was showing them a love from God they could really relate to…the kindness of a friend!