In this world, everyone tells us that we need to be a certain kind of person in order to be worthy of love; whether that means getting the grades, the job, the degree. Or, it can be dressing a certain way, listening to certains kinds of music, having “popular” interests,  or anything we do in order to “fit in” and feel accepted (high school, anyone?). When I started walking with Christ, the need to be loved and accepted from the Christians around me would manifest itself as I started to read a lot, listen to a lot of sermons, etc. These things in themselves aren’t bad things, as they were meant for good! But if I were to be honest, a closer look revealed that although I wanted to experience more of Jesus in my life, my heart and motives were tainted by using these things as a means to impress people… and thus earn their love and acceptance. I still struggle with this!

And here is the paradox of the Christian life: as long as we keep striving to earn love/acceptance/approval from others, we fail to experience the love/acceptance/approval that comes from God through the cross of Jesus Christ… and it’s out of this experience that we can truly love others and serve (see 1 Jn 4:16-19, Lk 7:36-50).

So, as promised, here are some resources I’ve found to help all of us do some heart-work with the Lord to accept and experience his unconditional love and acceptance:

UPDATED: I keep finding things from John Piper this time around. An excerpt from a sermon in 1999 on why faith (trust) glorifies God:
Illustration for Children: Why Faith Glorifies God

 

An Article by John Piper:
How is God’s Love Experienced in the Heart?

 

A collection of articles on the love of God, looking at this at all sorts of perspectives:
Discovering that You Thrill the Heart of God!

 

A letter accounting a pastor’s struggle to experience God’s love (everyone struggles):
Are You Struggling to Experience God’s Love?

 

A study into the book of Romans so that we can be sure of God’s love:
Romans 5:5-11 – How To Be Sure of God’s Love

 

A practical group exercise that may seem interesting:
“Back Graffiti”

 

Probably the best book I could recommend on learning to experience God’s love is Desiring God. It’s no easy read, but it’s worth it! John Piper dives into how God is most glorified NOT when you serve Him, but when you most enjoy Him… you glorify God the most by experiencing the love He has for you!
Piper’s theme for the entire book is:

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
Desiring God can be read for FREE online here.
If you’d rather have the physical book, you should be able to find it at most bookstores, but the cheapest place I found it was here.

 

 

And here’s a song, just because it’s been in my head for a few days now and it’s wildly appropriate: