What's Love Got To Do With It?

I've been reading the book "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller. It's terrific!

He has a chapter titled, "Lifeboat: How to Kill Your Neighbor". Of course, the title itself got me hooked! :)

But then, I started reading...

He talks about a class discussion he had in school. There were several people on a boat (Doctor, Lawyer, Pregnant lady, Child with a disability, etc). There wasn't enough room on the boat, so the class had to decide which one was to be thrown overboard. The class had a great discussion, but it didn't even occur to them that placing value in this way had legitimate issues. Miller goes on to use this lifeboat scenario as an analogy of our lives apart from Christ. We see ourselves in a lifeboat and have to proclaim our worth, our value as well as decide the worth of others around us so that we can justify our place on the boat.

Absolutely amazing! Mostly because, quite ashamedly, I see this in my own relationships (or lack thereof).

Miller goes on to say that Jesus was all about turning over this mentality. We don't have to be on a lifeboat, judged and valued by a "jury of peers." We are loved, emphatically loved, by God. That changes everything. It's no longer about positioning myself, it's no longer about being defined by the opinions of others toward me. Rather, it's all about the fact that God loved me so much that he sent Jesus to die in order to reconcile me to him and to receive the pure love he offers. When I recognize that, it changes my motivations and behaviors.