If there's anything in life about which we typically love to lament, it's when we find that someone loves us, but not for the entirety of who we are ---our strengths and weaknesses, our quirks, and our flaws. It's when the idea of you, or me, stirs interest, excites, and draws someone close for a moment, but as the relationship grows in intimacy, "who you turned out to be," isn't exactly who they had in mind. That maybe, who you are - or have been all along - is now a bit off-putting. The relationship stalls. It ceases to grow... or maybe it ends.  I see posts about it all the time. Like. Like. Like... And I agree sometimes, I do.. But I can't help but liken this to our relationship with God. Only because I think He wants to be loved for more than the obvious. I think He wants to be adored for more reasons than because He first loved us. I think He wants us to embrace more than His sufficient, irrational grace -- extend our gratitude for more than His provision and protection.  I think He wants us to live in awe of so much more than His inexplicable mercies. I think He wants to be sought out for more than His timing when it comes to our dreams and His orchestration. I believe He wants to be loved for His core.

 "Love Me for my Holy..."

Because He loves us SO much, and would love to be LOVED wholly, in return.

 

And there's so much room for us to acknowledge the more.. His otherness. His GOODness. His GOD - ness. His being set apart. His DIFFERENCE from all things created. His... creation of ALL things. His wisdom, and knowledge. His way... Do we love Him for His HOLY? And how about, for instance, the very thing that makes Him God - and us, in need of a Savior..? His Righteousness. .... Literally... His being RIGHT, all the time.

I'm afraid far too often we get stuck at loving Him for His love... we stop there.

Yes, love drove Christ to the cross and love kept Him there...but it was His holiness that made the cross worth the suffering and sacrifice. It was His holiness that qualified Him to pay the price.   How could He be God if not for His ability to do what we couldn't? ...If not for His ability to conquer and have victory over sin without ever even having to be delivered?

It's His holiness that compels me to love Him for more than His love. 

We MUST love His Holy. We NEED His Holy.

"As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” You call out to God for help and He helps—He’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, He’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.  Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know."

1 Peter 1:14-19 (MSG) 

If He is indeed our Father, we cannot just love "the idea of Him," choosing which parts of who He is we'd like to acknowledge today and appreciate tomorrow.    I don't want to live life having occasional run-ins with His way. I don't want His characteristics to be an afterthought when I consider how I treat other people. I don't want to LOVE the concept of having a home in heaven, but lack the maturity and commitment to be His where it counts -- right here, right now in all of life's inconsistencies and moments of stretching.                      It's so easy to over-esteem what the world values - to, over-calculate the worth of what it looks like to have it all together without actually having the whole of who we are, settled in Him.  This, I know. It's so easy to want to be called and chosen, forgiven, conquering, overcoming, and victorious...to want all of His benefits and none of His discipline. This, I know. It's so easy, to miss the mark clinging to every other convenient, accommodating characteristic of our Father. And so easy, still, to lose our souls, chasing the wind --- chasing the carnal, chasing non-factors. PROVEN. In my life. I know what it's like to have a hard time embracing holiness. We all do - we're human. Everyday we drop the ball somehow, but I must ask the question...

...Is it easy to be like Him..to be like my Father?

"Love Me for My Holy," He says. "And whatever you love about me, you'll inevitably imitate."

HOLY is exactly what we'll cherish if we ever want to look like our Father..

 

Dear Church Baby,

Believe again. Believe always.. You're preparing in time, for life in eternity.  Stay fresh. Stay open...teachable, and  hopeful... Fix your eyes. Imitate Christ. He's Cornerstone.