Jesus corrects my fuzzy conceptions of God. He reveals a God who comes in search of us, a God who makes room for our freedom, and above all a God who is love.

Those raised in a Christian tradition may miss the shock of Jesus’s message, but love has never been a normal way of describing what happens between human beings and their gods. Aristotle stated bluntly, “It would be eccentric for anyone to claim that he loved Zeus”—or that Zeus loved a human being for that matter. In contrast, the Christian Bible cites love as the main reason Jesus came to earth: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son… so that we might have eternal life through him” (1 JOHN 4:9).

I remember sitting in an airport waiting for a flight. I was writing the book Disappointment with God at the time, and I felt burdened by other people’s sorrows, doubts, and unanswered prayers.

My friend Karen happened to be traveling to the same conference. She listened to me in silence for a long time, and then out of nowhere she asked a question. “Philip, do you ever just let God love you? It’s pretty important, I think.”

I realized that I had missed the most important message of the Christian faith. The story of Jesus is a story of love. Yes, it involves pain and disappointment. But Jesus embodies the promise of a God who will go to any length to get his family back. —PHILIP YANCEY

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