To Die For

I love Rom Coms/romance movies like The Notebook or The Holiday or Crazy Stupid Love or Hitch or Never Been Kissed…the list could go on and on. I am very much a hopeless romantic and the cheesiness of it all really makes me happy. My favorites are when the girl who seems to have it all together really likes the guy completely opposite from herself. Maybe he has a hard past or has done something that he thinks is so unforgivable. He tricks himself into thinking that he can hide who everyone thinks he is because of his past and date the “good girl” without coming clean about his past. The audience falls in love with him. They see a gentle side of the “hard” guy and omg I just eat it up. But, like all things, what is done in the dark comes to light. The girl eventually finds out about the unforgivable thing. After time to think, she comes around…they always come around in the movies. After forgiveness, the guy realizes that he can’t screw this up again. This girl is out of his league but she still chooses him. She chooses to reject his past and look at his present and their future. She chooses to love. Somebody bring me a box of tissue…I’m a crier.

Have you ever had this moment spiritually?

Maybe it happened when you first became a believer in Jesus Christ. Maybe it happened years into your relationship. Maybe you’re reading this and you’re not a believer and may be struggling with the concept. It’s a hard one to swallow for me sometimes.

It’s hard to accept the fact that a perfect God would choose to love me. It’s hard to accept that He would choose to die for me. But He did. He chose to die for me because I am worth it.

There I am in the role of the hard guy from the romantic movie. I have done things that I am not 100% proud of. I have lost myself when indulging my flesh. I have hidden things away that I hope no one ever finds out about. And then I come crawling to Jesus. He brings out all the good things in me. For awhile I trick myself into thinking that I can pretend to be perfect. Me and Jesus are real tight. Quiet Times are happening daily. Meditating on sermons throughout the week. Even joined a small group. Tweeting out Bible verses and theological gems. We’re going steady.

Then I run into somebody who knows what’s hidden or maybe have a moment of temptation and completely give in. I second guess it all.  Am I truly worth it? Was I truly worth it? Will Christ forgive me? How can He love me after I repeatedly do [fill in the blank here]?

The craziest part of Christ’s decision is that it doesn’t make any sense. Yal…He thinks that we are to die for and that’s exactly what He did. He knew the pain He had to endure. He knew the mistakes we would still make. He knew that some people would never choose Him back. Yet, He did it anyway because He knows our true worth. He chose love.

So we are at the end of the movie where the tears are really flowing. If you’re empathetic like me, then you can feel the gratefulness of the guy as he accepts the love of the girl. It’s one thing for Christ to love us enough to die. It’s another thing for us to accept that love. The enemy thrives on persuading us that Christ died for everyone else. He tries to make us believe that we are so messed up that there’s no chance of a turnaround.

But stand confidently on the truth that you are worth dying for. Believe it. Because Jesus already died for you.

Amen, amen.

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I got this cool tee from Mercy Life and Apparel.  So check it out!