Why We Forget God’s Love
Lisa Harper on Our Need to Hear the Gospel Repeatedly
We enjoyed a moment with Lisa Harper, a renowned author and Bible teacher, and in this segment of the conversation she shared insights on why we all—no matter how devoted—need regular reminders of the gospel’s core promise: we are deeply and unconditionally loved by God.
Lisa began, “I’ve learned that I have to land the plane that most people’s hearts can’t take any more than their rear ends can. And and people want to hear about the love of Jesus again and again and again.” Just as we need daily sustenance, our souls crave regular affirmations of God’s love.
Lisa notes that those who contributed significantly to the New Testament needed to be reminded of the gospel’s truths. “Paul, who wrote in in two-thirds of the New Testament, needed to read gospel. There were times he lost his bearings,” Lisa said.
“I don’t think telling the same story is a bad thing,” she continued. “Our minds and hearts as humans tend to be colanders, and it leaks out of us. So I tend to teach the same thing over and over again. [I use a] few different words, and maybe a different template of Scripture, but it’s basically: We are a mess; we need a messiah, and our God loves us,” she explained.
Our Human Condition and Fear of Unworthiness
Lisa believes we all share the innate fear of not being worthy, a sentiment she credits back to the fall of mankind. “I think there’s an innate fear in all of us that we’re not worthy,” she said, attributing this to the original sin and the resulting shame. Feelings of unworthiness often lead us to question God’s love for them.
Lisa continued, “Basically that questioning from the enemy in the very beginning: ‘Did God hold out on you, Eve?’ Which presupposes He would only hold out on you if He didn’t love you as much as He says he loves you.”
Shame often causes believers to distance themselves from God and others. “Most of us inherently wonder if everybody really knew everything about me, would they wince and walk away? And then as humans, we tend to superimpose that on the Lord. And so to actually not to be comfortable in our sin, we should always be moving toward the Lord,” she said.
“We become more shaped like Jesus.”
“Be comfortable in the fact that He knows everything,” Lisa encouraged. “Nothing in my life is hidden from Him.”
Lisa offers a comforting perspective, asserting that God’s omnipresence is a source of grace rather than judgment. “On my worst day, He’s not mad at me.” Harper reassures God’s constant watchfulness comes from His loving care, and not a place of judgment.
In truly accepting God’s unconditional love, Lisa admitted it’s an ongoing process. “To begin to really internalize in my own quirky little heart on my worst day, yeah, He delights in me,” she reflects.
Full acceptance of God’s love is a lifelong process, one that requires us to continually pursue. The journey of faith is one we must continually revisit and reaffirm the gospel’s truths in our lives.
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