Graciously Accepting A Gift

Today at church the pastor preached on the rather famous 1 Corinthians 13 passage about "love." He's been in a series where he's covered elements of this each Sunday, using a different translation each time for effect. His focus today was on the love ("agape") God has for us. As I was listening to the sermon, I got to thinking that there are really four "states" to one's approach to this:

1. An understanding of the difference between our contemporary notion of "love" and the concept embodied by the term "agape" in the original Greek
2. A belief that God does indeed personify this kind of love
3. A willingness to accept this love from God
4. A response to this love -- "the fruit"

It really struck me that item #3 above might be seen by some as an unnecessary distinction drawn from #2. But I think not. It strikes me as quite possible that one could truly believe God embodies agape love ... but not believe themselves worthy of it.

Note: well, none of us are worthy of it ... that's the nature of Grace ... but set that aside.

In many ways, the ability to receive love is one of the hardest things to do. Or so that's how I see things from my rather strained perspective. I wonder why that is?

Have you ever thought about this ... the challenge of simply accepting the love offered by another? What are you thoughts on this?