Love Does: So Le'ts Do

From intentions to actions. From complacent timidity to loving abandon. From sidelines to game-changers. From rules and religion to relationships and purpose.

Bob Goff shares hilarious (and slightly unbelievable) stories of his life that have taught him valuable lessons about God's love and loving others. And seriously, it's amazing and encouraging and important.

As a perfectionist, I struggle with accepting my own mistakes. Especially in areas that I feel impact other people; my failures make me want to give up, throw in the towel, stop trying so hard. However, Bob (I feel like he would want me to use his first name, he's friendly like that) shows and reminds us that failures are often the best teachers. Look at the stories of the Bible, many of the leaders of the faith made huge mistakes, had major set-backs, but were able to come back stronger and wiser for it. The reality is "Failure is just part of the process, and it's not just okay; it's better than okay. God doesn't want failure to shut us down. God didn't make it a three-strikes-and-you're out sort of thing. It's more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so that we can swing for the fences again. And all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups."

The book is called Love Does, and I would have to agree. When you are passionate about someone or something, it calls us to action. "Jesus told the people he was with that it's not enough to just look like you love God. He said we'd know the extent of our love for God by how well we loved people." We have power to impact one another's lives in amazingly positive ways. A kind word, a delivered latte, a thoughtful gift, a compassionate and listening ear. I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for just how influential we can be--our words, our actions, matter. "I believe it's true that the right people can say words that can change everything. And guess what? We're the ones who can say them."

So let's boldly love people. Let's do things that don't make sense, but make a difference. "So the next time God asks you to do something that is completely inexplicable, something you're sure is a prank because it requires a decision or courage that's way over your pay grade, something that might even save lives, say yes."
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