Recently, I have been studying and experiencing different portions of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. They offer a powerful encounter with God that most us never take the time to do. One of the weeks specifically focuses on how God intimately cares for us. Through the exercises that week, a person is encouraged to contemplate how much God loves them. I wanted to share with you some of this experience as I believe it will help us gain a better perspective on how we should approach being a disciple of Christ.

I believe that we often see our lives as disciples as needing to focus on managing and minimizing sin. Let me explain what I mean by that. As I began my faith journey with Christ, I was made keenly aware of the prevalence of sin in my life, how destructive it was, and where I was going if I didn’t make an immediate course correction with Christ. So after making Jesus my Lord and Savior, I fully believed that I needed to focus on minimizing the sin in my life and managing the sin of others in order to stay in favor with Christ. In other words, I needed to be as good as I could possibly be so that God would still love me and I could then go to heaven. That was being a good disciple. On the other side of that coin, to make disciples meant helping people see their own sin, leading them to give their lives to Christ and live lives of minimized sin, and then they would be loved by God and would get to go to heaven.

I hope all that made sense, because it was very hard to actually type it out. Fortunately, God has been extremely patient while spiritually transforming me through the years. I have now come to see things very differently. You see, I now know (with all my heart) that I am deeply loved. Not because I have minimized my sin and helped others manage theirs, but simply because I exist. The Principle and Foundation of Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises starts with this: “Lord my God, when Your love spilled over into creation You thought of me. I am from Love…of Love…for Love.”

WOW! Have you ever thought of your existence in such a way? You are, because you are loved. You exist for no other reason than God’s love, which breathed life into you. Henri Nouwen once wrote, “We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved.’” [1] God’s love does not depend on how I manage or minimize sin. God’s love does not depend on how good I am. God’s love is, and it thought of me before I existed.

As these thoughts and meditations have been filling my heart and soul, I was taken to Is. 43:1-7. I want you to take a moment and read through this love letter from God to you (I’ve adapted it a bit to get to the gist of God’s message). After you have read it, sit back, close your eyes, and breathe in and out, “I am loved.” If you need to, repeat this several times. Each time take in a bit more of the fact that you are God’s beloved. Hear this word to you from God.

But now, I the Lord, who created you and who formed you, say to you __________(name) ... Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One, your Savior. You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you. So fear not, for I am with you! You are called by my name. I created you for my glory and I formed and made you by my love.

Breathe deeply. Take a moment. Know you are loved!

But what does knowing this change? Everything! I’m no longer trying to get God to love me; he already does. I don’t spend my life in sin management and minimization, but in loving because I have first been loved. Every interaction with others is a chance to get to know another aspect of God’s love that was breathed into existence in that person. I no longer look only to my own interests, but also to the interests of others because I cannot help but love them.

Take a moment and consider which is better: 1) to live a life of sin minimization and management, always wondering if you are loved by God and going to heaven, or 2) to live a life of love because you know you are already loved and that love has to be shared. I pray we all choose to be disciples and make disciples from, of, and for God’s love. After all, wasn’t that his plan from the beginning?

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[1] Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved, 10th Anniversary (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992), 36-37.