Inspiration 1: Allow God to Love You

        Begin with the end in mind- Stephen R. Covey

       For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in 
Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn. 3:16

I love God since childhood.

Want proofs? 

Here they are!

1. I pray a lot.
2. I attend Mass every Sunday.
3. I read and study the Bible.
4. I respect my parents.
5. I share what I have to others.
6. I volunteer a lot. 
7. I was only engage in two (childhood) fights. (The first was with my classmate when I was in grade two and the last was with my brother when I was in grade five)
8. I was awarded Pinaka-Maaalalahanin from grade one to grade four, and also  when I was in grade six. (When I was in grade five, the school awarded me Pinaka-Masipag).
9. I was Best in Values Education at the end of every school year during my high school days.
10. I study well (I am the First Honorable Mention when I graduated in Fourth year). 
11. I return excess change during rides. 
12. I throw garbage properly.
13. I plant trees.
14. I feel bad when I accidentally kill ants, spiders, and cockroaches. (Nako-konsensya talaga ako).

Wait!

Before you stop reading and think I’m boasting here, please bear with me ‘cause I’m trying to make a point.

My Greatest Inheritance

Okay, let’s continue.

I’m very thankful to my Papa and Mama that they raised me this way; fearing God. Because of them I started aspiring heaven and for me to be there, I need to be good and please God. Actually, more than education and a piece of land, this is what I will consider the greatest “pamana” that they will ever leave me. 

With this certain kind of “religiosity”, I tried to love God until I discovered a truth that really shocked me.What is this truth?

The truth is:  That I never have loved God since childhood; it is God who have loved me since childhood!

What a liberating Truth! 

You know what? I‘m continuously detoxified by this truth and its making my life more purposive and free (this kind of life is also my wish for you).  I really thank God for building this kind of relationship with me.

A Story of Conversion Just on Time  

Actually, there’s nothing wrong in what I was doing before (its part of my spiritual growth) but God made me realized that I was loving Him with a wrong motivation. I found myself during those times that I was trying to earn God’s love through my own efforts. I thought that God needed to love me because I was doing everything for Him- that He needed to answer my prayers because I was doing His will… that He owed me heaven because I tried my best to be a good person. What a self-centered person I was. (forgive me Lord)

And now that God have made me understand what Saint Paul means when he reminded the believers in Rome, my life has never been the same…

“But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believed in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself“ (Rm. 4:5)

Today, more that proving every second that I love God, I’m now attentive to the many ways He’s whispering that He loves me. Today, more than trying to make myself good, I’m now allowing Him to mold me to perfection (like a pot)! Today, more than believing that I love Him, I’m now convinced that He has already loved me and continuously loving me… that there’s nothing I could do to earn His Love because He already did and His love is a free gift as written:

            
             “For if God’s choice were based on what people do, then his grace would not be  real  grace” (Rm. 11:6).

The only thing that I need to do is to actually receive and allow this blessing to come like a new born child.

Looking back on the day AJ was born, (even until this moment) my wife Karen and I really love him and give him everything he needs, not because he can do something for us like cooking, or doing the laundry, or fixing the faucets, or earning for us. (Nakakita ka na ba ng isang sanggol na ginagawa ang lahat ng  ito para sa kanyang mga magulang?). But we have found ourselves loving him dearly without expecting something in return. AJ is just there in a very intriguing routine: eating, sleeping, smiling, playing (and now giving us headache) but we love him. If we and (you as a parent) can give this kind of love to our children, then, the more our Father in heaven can give pure love than what can we offer here on earth. A love expressed by His generosity giving His one and only Son to save us as written:

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son (Jn. 3:16).

The End in Mind

I now have learned that I just need to be a child.

I just need to be a child deliberately and constantly allowing God, my Father, to Love me.

This kind of relationship is the very beginning and very end of all the Inspirations of a Pasahero. Without this kind of inspiration, without reaching this certain kind of allowness (dependence), all the efforts of a Pasahero will be useless and dead like what St. Paul wrote:

 “Because they did not depend on faith but on what they did, so they stumbled over the stumbling stone” (Rm. 9:32).

And this is the reason why I’m already telling you this at the very beginning of this series.

That allowing God to Love You is your goal today, tomorrow and forever. 

Let us pray that we’ll all be successful reaching this goal or better say,

Let us allow God to be successful reaching this goal with us.

Dear friend, allow God to love you!

May you always be inspired!