“Let love be genuine…..” -Romans 12:9a
The world does not need our best imitation of love. It really just needs love. I think most of us read what the bible tells us love looks like, then try our best to live that way. We think the Christian life is about learning what is right and what is wrong, then trying to do right and avoid wrong. The problem with all of our effort is that it is not genuine! Sure, we are genuinely trying to love, but since when have hearts responded to attempted love? If your dad told you, “I’m trying really hard to love you”, it wouldn’t feel too good. You wouldn’t be impressed by his obedience. You would probably wonder, “why is it so difficult to love me?”
For too long we have been trying so hard to love, and trying so hard to obey while remaining ignorant of where true love comes from. So what should we do? How can we learn to love?
This is the mystery. It is why we so desperately need to escape our rational, canned theology — and rediscover Jesus. We must look deeper than the historical Jesus, because Jesus isn’t trapped in history, and we need to look further than theology because knowing God isn’t a matter of carefully structured definitions and tidy explanations. We need to open our hearts to discover and encounter the God who was, but also is! We need to recognize that the Jesus of the past is not dead, but alive and knowable!
In the bible, we can read about how Jesus healed the sick, welcomed the little children, forgave the sinners, and gladly associated with the outcasts. How loved he must have made people feel! Can you imagine what it would have felt like to be the object of his affection? But here is the good news. You don’t have to limit yourself to imagining what it would have been like. Because the Jesus who died is also the Jesus who rose, you don’t have to limit yourself to knowing Jesus from a distance. Jesus still is the God who heals, the God who forgives, and the God who welcomes. He is that for you right now!
While fear and guilt may motivate you to try, only experiencing love as the object of affection has the power to awaken true love. Ask Jesus to remind you who he is. Read the Gospels not merely as a historical document but as a revelation of the character of the God who still is. Soak in how loved and accepted you are. In this place, you will find love. Then go out and set the world on fire with the same genuine, unadulterated love!
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (NLT)
Stephen Fulton 
Thank you, Stephen, for following my blog. I thank you for writing well about the love of God. God bless you and your family in Thailand, and thank you for following my blog. I hope it gives you some kind of encouragement.