God's Gift of Loving Peace

My image of a peaceful relationship with God is an image of a child who has returned from school with a low grade on an exam. The child’s parents hug the child, kiss the child on the head and say, “We love you so go on outside and play.” There is no scolding, berating, talks about ‘doing better’, etc. There is no punishment. The child knows and trusts the parents love and this motivated the child to want to do better. ‘Wanting to do better’ is a healthier motivation than fear. Perhaps the child does better on the next exam or maybe the child continues to make something less than perfection. The parents love for their child is not dependent on the child’s grades. The child can live peacefully knowing that he/she is loved—no strings attached. God loves us because that is the nature of God and not because we have ever earned or deserve God’s love. There is nothing I can do that will cause God to love me more than I am loved this moment and there is nothing I might do that will cause God to love me any less than I am loved by God at this moment. Whew, what a relief. This is the reality that motivated me to say to folks, “You are already loved by God so, stop working so hard at it; rather, accept it, live in it with God’s gift of loving peace.”