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May 10, 2021 17:00pm

Love Doesn’t Ask Us to Change

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Maybe if I wore my hair up more often or if I changed my hair color.

Maybe if I liked these kinds of movies, this kind of music, or wore these kinds of clothes.

Maybe if I could be someone different, then that would earn his love.

Maybe… that’s not the way it should be.

We are all probably guilty of trying to earn someone’s love at one point in time. Truth is, you didn’t need to change or do anything to earn his love.

True love doesn’t ask that of you.

Nevertheless, Jacob’s wife, Rachel, thought she had to earn her husband’s love.

In Genesis chapter 30, Jacob has been deceived by his father-in-law, Laban. Jacob worked seven years to marry his beloved Rachel, but Leah, the older sister had to marry first.

Laban took advantage of the situation and sent Leah into Jacob’s dark tent after a huge feast and she became his wife. It wasn’t until the next morning Jacob realized what had happened.

He went to Laban and demanded Rachel as his wife as well, and Laban agreed… for the price of seven more years of work for the woman he truly loved.

So, Jacob ended up married to two sisters. And when Leah began having children, Rachel became jealous because she was barren.

“When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’” (Genesis 30:1)

So, Rachel decided to do a Sarah and gave her handmaiden over to Jacob as a concubine to bear children for her. In her mind, if Bilhah could bear sons for her husband, he would love her.

But Rachel was doing something unnecessary. It was clear Jacob loved her because he spent 14 years working for her father just to marry her.

There was nothing she could do to earn his love – it was already there.

Like Rachel, we too seem to think we need to earn the perfect love of God.

We think, “maybe if I stop doing this,” or, “I need to clean this up first and if I do these things it he will keep loving me.” We say in our hearts, “I can earn His love and a place in heaven.”

Friends, we don’t need to do anything to earn what’s already there. He gives us grace freely and abundantly. God has already loved us from the very beginning (1 John 4:19)

We don’t have to change to earn his love.

He already offers it to us, even in our brokenness. But we do have to accept it. And at that moment of acceptance, when we truly surrender to Jesus, we surrender to His will.

Then, The Holy Spirit indwells us, changes our hearts and our desires and actions will follow.

We don’t have to change to earn His love, we change BECAUSE of His love.

My life is drastically different than who I used to be because I want to honor God with my life in every aspect.

Wherever you are today, know Jesus loves you.

It’s that simple.