You already know that nothing in us caused God to love us. He did so because He is love. Perhaps you also know that consequently, nothing in us can make God love us less. Once you give your life to Jesus, He loves you like He loves Jesus. However, your actions towards God determine His actions towards you, even as He loves you maximally. Similarly, by giving God a side hug, you force Him to give you a side hug.
Consider, when your child refuses to give you a hug or turns his side to you, what can you do? Nothing, even though you love him deeply. It is the same with God and that is why He warns us that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. That is, if we refuse to face Him for a full hug, we end up giving God a side hug. Where has your face been lately? Has it been fully on God? Only you can answer for yourself but there is evidence that we are busy with other things. Other things such as material stuff. We do not seek God’s face but rather seek His hand.
So, even though God loves us, we do not fully experience that love. As a result, we complain that God does not love us enough. No, He cannot possibly love us more than He already does. Do you forget that He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten son to die for us? There is no greater love than that and yet you may not be experiencing it. Instead of blaming God, check to see if you are giving God a side hug.
Stop Giving God A Side Hug
Interestingly, the side hug is a sign of trying not to show intimacy with a member of the opposite sex. The concept was developed to discourage the physical display of intimacy between two people in love. It is religious and I am not sure it achieves much to dissuade sexual intimacy, just the outward appearance. Be that as it may, by giving God a side hug, you are telling him you cannot be close to Him. How do you think that makes Him feel, the one who died for you? Of course, He feels rejected. Wouldn’t you?
For God to cause His face to shine upon you, you have to turn your face fully to Him. And unless His face shines upon you as we see in the Aaronic blessing, He cannot give you peace. God cannot be gracious to you or lift up His countenance unto you. For that to happen, you have to look full in His face and give Him a full-frontal hug. That is when He can wrap His Almighty arms around you in a hug, perhaps of comfort in sorrow. Determine today to stop giving God a side hug; God loves you too much for that.
Love God back by giving Him a full-frontal hug each time you come in contact with God. And trust me, that should be quite often. From today, make up your mind to fully face God and nobody or nothing else. And then, you will get a full-frontal measure of God’s love.
Maranatha!
