21 Promises

George Strait, the king of country music, opened the largest concert in North American history by singing a tribute to our fundamental view of love. The song introduces this story of a young girl, who radically changes a young boy’s world by her love. The opening verse introduces Emmylou Hayes, who the boy remembers wore a pink dress with a matching bow and a ponytail. While the two rode the school bus together, Emmylou decides to play the “kiss-and-don’t-tell” game with the lad, which we all know never ends well.

Right then, the boy’s whole world turned upside down. In the next verse, he sings about how he chased her around the playground the day after she kissed him. Then, Emmylou writes this special note to him. Naturally, the teacher picked it up; but, before it was confiscated, he read these words:

“Do you love me? Do you wanna be my friend? And if you do, well then, don’t be afraid to take me by the hand,

if you want to. I think this is how love goes, check yes or no.”

Fast-forward, and the two become married and eventually raise two kids. Yet, nothing changes for the whimsical couple. He sings of chasing Emmylou around the house, taking her out in a white limousine, and still being madly in love twenty years later because of the old note.

Okay, I have a confession: this isn’t a true story. However, the fanciful tale still leaves you thinking (and singing along).

As humans, we inherit an innate desire for love. The first line in Emmylou’s note reads, “Do you love me? Do you wanna be my friend?” Have you ever wondered why we need community but view ourselves as somewhat self-sufficient? While God entirely knows and unconditionally loves each of us, we critically value earning the attention and affection of others – even in precedence to God’s attention and affection from time to time.

Ultimately, love must be evident. The chief glorification of love occurs when it becomes courageously declared. There is a certain level of intentionality necessary in every loving relationship which exists to reveal true love. And while love delights in words, it is most evidently declared in action. As Bob Goff coined the poignant phrase, “Simply put, love does.”

Believing God loves us unconditionally is right. But what if we lived like he does? It’s easy to say, “I believe!” We believe healthy nutrition is good for us, but what did we decide to eat today? While we believe eight hours of sleep restores our bodies, we constantly fall short of this benchmark. For many of us, believing truly is a good, even great, thing.

However, a clear distinction separates our understanding of God as being good and our belief that he is good regardless of our circumstances. To understand the goodness of God is to declare with our minds, while to believe this promise about God means to declare with our hearts and our souls. Lucky for us, God desires all of us, every bit. Therefore, the way we look at God with our minds, hearts, and souls matters pointedly.

From this, we learn the difference between believing God is good and living like he truly is takes root in our perception of God. Ask yourself, what is God to me? Is God a vending machine? Is he a genie? Is he an old, hairy, white-bearded man sitting on a cloud? Or is he my Father? Is he my friend? Is he my remedy?

I don’t know about you, but I know I’m not the point of life. I can’t be. When I think about my life in comparison to Christ, there’s no competition. It makes me realize how far I am from being awesome. In fact, I’m the problem – the very reason Jesus chose to die. Yes, chose to die. Sin didn’t kill Jesus. Nails couldn’t bear the weight of our Savior. No, it was his love which kept him on the cross we deserved. Then, he died and rose again out of God’s great love for us.

When we see ourselves as the problem and Jesus as the solution, grace intervenes. For those who love the gospel and embrace the cross, their salvation will be the power of God. They will understand how the same spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of them. The apostle Paul put it plainly on multiple occasions:

Romans 1:16 (ESV), “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV), “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

When we boast in the cross, loving others becomes quite simple. Bob Goff put it this way, “Grace is only hard to give if we’re keeping score.” If Jesus settled our score on the cross, how could we possibly keep score with others?

I do an amateurish job of this, but what if we handled our human relationships the way God handles ours with him? What if we loved one another unconditionally by treating their needs as more important than our own? While loving others without conditions might feel like amateur hour here and there, imagine what could happen if we resolved to find our identity in the cross instead of our inadequacies.

When God restores and forgives out of his great mercy, true love abounds. And love shines brightest and most beautifully when it’s fully declared. Therefore, out of the sincerity of your heart, tell someone you love them today and be a blessing to someone else. May we preach this message to ourselves over and over again: if there’s room in the heart of Jesus to love a sinner like me, God can make room in this heart of mine to love anybody.