Discounted Love

Imagine that a friend of yours is dying—but you can help her. So you have surgery and donate a kidney or liver. Imagine she is grateful; after all, she does owe you her life.

Now imagine that the very next week, she looks at you and asks, “What have you ever done for me? You don’t care about me or love me at all.”

Can you imagine how painful that would be?

We think such a scenario could never happen—but it happens all the time.

"I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" (Malachi 1:2)

One of our pastors is preaching through the book of Malachi. While ultimately the book of Malachi is about spiritual complacency, God knew there were root issues that needed to be dealt with. The Israelites, recently returned from the Babylonian captivity, were okay (complacent) with the way things were—but God knew they were far from okay, and He sent Malachi to wake them up, as it were. One thing that led them to spiritual complacency was discounted love.

Discounted love is when we throw God’s incredible sacrifice out the window, along with the daily blessings He gives to all of us, and we turn around and look at our lives—whether it be an unwanted situation, person, or whatever—and focus on that instead. Discounted love is looking at God’s love through our situation, rather than looking at our situation through God’s love.

I’m not exactly excited about how things have been turning out these past 6 months or so. The week before Pastor Bryan preached this message on Discounted Love, I had a huge reality check. Plans went awry. People issues came up. Work stuff happened. I didn’t want any of it and it seemed like God suddenly dropped the ball. Before, I could see Him working, and then all of a sudden everything was falling apart.

I was telling myself that God loves me (that’s the “Sunday school answer”)…but back on that Sunday morning in April, I realized I was discounting God’s love.  My (deceitful) heart was telling me that my circumstances weren’t proving God’s love. I deserved more. I didn’t deserve what I was getting.

We discount something when we don’t realize its value. If we truly recognize the value of God’s love…we will be eternally grateful for His sacrifice. That will be enough. Forever. The daily blessings—physical, emotional, spiritual—will be added grace. But the mercy that put God in my place on that cross will be enough.

God’s love is written through every moment of my day. I may not feel like it when some guy is screaming at me over the phone at work. I may not feel like it when I have to die to dreams and plans.

But you know what? Those things I despise are proofs of God’s love. In a recent Sunday school discussion, we talked about the fact that every detail of my life was known by God before the foundation of the world—and every experience is meant to draw us to God.

So when that guy is screaming at me, God allowed it because He wants me to know Him more, to experience Him more, to know His love more. When God changes my plans and says no to dreams, He did it because He wants the best for me. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (Romans 8:28-29)

To discount God’s love is to not care that I, a hell-bound sinner, was saved from God’s wrath because of His loving grace. I can either discount God’s love and feel sorry for myself, or I can appreciate God’s love and be grateful for His sacrifice—I can bask in God’s love.

And let me tell you, basking in God’s love is a beautiful thing.