Love Does and Go Do Love
LOVE… such an enormous word. We can all relate to it. But what does it really mean?
What is your definition of love? How do you express your love? How do you feel loved? Do you just think about love, or do you act in love? Love is action. Love is words. Love is irreplaceable. Love is impacting. Love is powerful. Love can build up. Love reaches the depths. Love is simple. Love is worth it. Love is trust. Love is a force. Love changes things. “Love does”…
This week I was reading the book “Love Does” by Bob Goff. It rocked my world. I was sitting on the plane just reading this incredible story about the way this guy lives every day without even thinking about it. Reading it made me want to live that way. But now I have to transfer that day of reading into actual existence. I want to live free, fun, spontaneous, purposeful, and full of love. Bob Goff calls it whimsy. I call it free. I don’t want to just talk about love. I want to live it out. I want to be overflowing. I want to leave no room for doubt about how much I love my God, love my purpose, love my life, and love loving others. What does that look like for me?
Sometimes I am held back by failure. Love lived out doesn’t hold back. It takes risks.
“Failure is just part of the process, and it’s not just okay; it’s better than okay. God doesn’t want failure to shut us down. God didn’t make it a three-strikes-and-you’re-out sort of thing. It’s more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so we can swing for the fences again. And all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups.”
Sometimes I am held back by control. I want to be free believing I have the power of God in me to love with the gift of love He has given me. The unconditional, relentless, and abounding love.
“Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It’s not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, “Let’s go do that together.”
Sometimes I am held back by busyness. Love lived out is intentional, purposeful, and NOW.
“Living a life fully engaged and full of whimsy and the kind of things that love does is something most people plan to do, but along the way they just kind of forget. Their dreams become one of those “we’ll go there next time” deferrals. The sad thing is, for many there is no “next time” because passing on the chance to cross over is an overall attitude toward life rather than a single decision.”
Sometimes I am held back by selfishness. Selfless love has open hands and an open heart.
“The challenge that comes into sharp relief is whether we are willing to give up all we have to follow Him, to know God. Are we willing to trade up?….In that sense, Jesus isn’t requesting a sacrifice at all. He’s asking us to play Bigger and Better, where we give up ourselves and end up with Him” p. 81
Sometimes I am held back by trying to do things for my own glory. Love doesn’t have an agenda of wanting something in return. It just keeps loving and living for a bigger purpose.
You want a mission statement to go along with being secretly incredible? Okay, here it is: “Be Awesome”. That’s it. If you want to follow Jesus’ example of how He did things, that’s probably all we’d write down instead of our otherwise heady doctrinal statements. But there’s more. I don’t think Jesus wants us to make a fashion statement or be edgy or promote ourselves on the backs of clothing and bracelets all the time either. I think instead, Jesus wants us to write “Be Awesome” on an undershirt where it won’t be seen, not on the back of a hoodie.” p. 161
How am I going to do this? How am I going to live love?
*Make my goal be to BE AWESOME, but as a secret agent, undercover, so no one knows.
*Love without being on my own terms.
*Be intentional. Be present. And be loving.
*Take risks to reach out beyond my comfort zone.
5 Ways you can love in action
1. Ask for a friend’s bucket list, have an adventure and check off an item with them
2. Do something spontaneous for someone. Get out of your routine
3. Write someone a letter telling them how much you appreciate them
4. Find a local service project and take people with you to serve
5. Send someone a gift, anonymously
5 Other books I recommend similar to Love Does
1. Crazy Love, by Francis Chan
2. Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis
3. The Best Yes, by Lysa TerKheurst
4. One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp
5. Savor, by Shauna Niequist
What can you work on to live out your love?
