Pretending

I have always been pretty big on not pretending. After all this blog is titled "I refuse to play church." That is a statement about not pretending. I don't want to pretend to be the church. I don't want to pretend to follow Jesus. I want to follow Jesus.

I don't want to pretend that I am someone or something that I am not. I want to be real about my struggles, my faults and my need for Jesus. I want to be real about my love of Jesus and make Jesus' love real for others. I don't want to pretend to love Jesus and my neighbor. I want to love with the heart of Jesus. I don't want to pretend.

When we pretend the only person we fool is ourselves. No one else is really fooled. God is certainly not fooled and neither are we really. This morning, I had a thought go through my head. This is the thought that God has given me this morning in regards to being real about our lives, our love and our relationship with Jesus. "God does not pretend to love you."

"God does not pretend to love you."

God's love for you/me is real. God doesn't love you/me with an ulterior motive. He doesn't love you because he benefits from it. God never pretends to love us. God is love. God doesn't pretend to love us and neither should we pretend to love him.

Love today.

Look for those that need to be loved and love them.

In Christ's love and mine,

Doug