This post on Receiving God’s Affection is the third in a series on the Pillars of Spiritual Wellness.
“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Now, let me say at the outset that I love the song, “Jesus Loves Me.” I’m not anti-“Jesus Loves Me.” Please keep teaching your children to sing “Jesus Loves Me.” 🙂
But about that second line, “for the Bible tells me so.” Yes, it’s true, but . . . it’s really not sufficient to build a relationship on.
Beyond Intellectual Knowledge
Imagine if I asked how you know that your mother (or father) loves (or loved) you, and all you could come up with was, “Well, one time Mom gave me a birthday card, and she signed it, “Love, Mom.” In relationship terms, that would be the equivalent of “for the Bible tells me so.” It speaks of an intellectual knowledge, but not an experiential one.
“Jesus Loves Me” is a children’s song, so maybe we shouldn’t expect it to present a fully mature vision of faith. But as we continue our journey in Christ it’s important that we grow beyond “for the Bible tells me so” to truly experiencing God’s affection. This post is about that experiential kind of knowing, because one of the pillars of spiritual wellness is receiving God’s affection for you.
The Warmth of Affection
Now, you might have noticed that I just pulled a bit of a switcheroo. I exchanged the word love for the word affection. Let me explain why I often do that.
It’s been my observation that the way we Christians typically use the word love gives it a certain chill. We say we love our neighbors and even our enemies, but we can still say unkind, even hateful things about them. We know from the Bible that God loves us, but we’re not sure he really likes us. We suspect he’s keeping a list of all the ways we aren’t good enough and rewarding all the people he likes better than us. But that kind of “love” isn’t really love at all. What that chill kind of love lacks is the warmth of genuine affection.
Now, it might seem that focusing on affection lowers the bar, since affection is only one aspect of love. But I think it actually raises the bar, because it is the aspect of love we’re most likely to forget. You see, genuine love is built on true affection. If God truly loves you—and God does—that means God also likes you. And you can’t love others as God loves without the warmth of affection. That’s why I use the word affection rather than love—to keep us from giving ourselves a pass.
Spending Time with God
So, the way to move from a mere intellectual knowledge of God to a deeper, experiential knowledge is to begin to feel and receive God’s affection for you.
The way to do that is by spending time with God. To be clear, I’m not talking about reading about God, studying about God, talking to God, telling others about God, doing good works in God’s name, even though all of those are good things. I’m talking about simply being with God—no agenda, no performance. To be even more specific, I’m talking about entering God’s presence, ceasing most mental and physical activity, and assuming a posture where we are ready to listen and receive.
In human relationship terms, what I’m talking about is the equivalent of turning your whole body—not just your eyes or head—toward another person, opening up your posture, leaning forward, making eye contact, and simply listening, without interruption, to what the other person wants to say.
Now I admit that the task can seem a little more daunting when the person you’re listening to is invisible and doesn’t generally speak with an audible voice. However, many Christians through the centuries attest to the fact that hearing God is not only possible, it’s easier than we may think. The hardest part is simply slowing ourselves down long enough to listen.
Learning to Receive God’s Affection
One way to do this is to set time aside for it. Carve out 5 or 10 or 15 minutes from each day and find a place where you can have undistracted, uninterrupted, and uninhibited time with God. Maybe set a timer, so you won’t be distracted by the clock. Then, close your eyes, sit quietly, and wait in God’s presence. Clear your mind of all thoughts other than God or Jesus and divine love. Don’t seek any other agenda other than to be aware of and fully present with God.
Avoid the temptation to expect any great inspiration or revelation, just as you wouldn’t expect those things sitting with a close friend. Let it be enough to be in God’s presence—and over time, to experience God’s love and peace. It’s okay, if you become distracted. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Simply redirect your attention back to being in God’s presence. Each distraction is merely another opportunity to refocus your awareness on Christ.
I can’t fully explain how it works, but I can tell you that, if you stick with this discipline, over time, you’ll be able to say along with many Christians past and present, “Jesus loves me, this I know, in real life, he tells me so.”
Read the first post in the series – Cultivating an Awareness of God