I just finished In the Name of Jesus by Henry Nouwen. Great book. A simple yet crazy concept that I took away from the book, among many things is the concept of 1st love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If
anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For
anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love
God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:19
God first loved us. The only way we can love others is to understand that we are loved first.
I challenge you to wrestle with your first love (God loving you) so that your second love (loving others) is real and full. Many times we are pissed, harsh, short or mean and it is directly connected to fully realizing our first love.
In the midst of struggle you have, you just have to get that first love. God loves you first with all your junk. All of it. You have to let God love you. Guilt and shame are viscous and if you are in the midst of guilt and shame maybe it is time to come back to the first love.
Enjoy Episode 12 – Unscripted. Shot in 2007, I look young like I am in high school…it was a crazy event.