Crazy Love Observations: Chapter 6

Well, this was another great chapter from Francis Chan in Crazy Love. I hope you felt liberated and empowered when he gave us the freedom to say, “God, I don’t really love you like I should—help me to love you.” It’s not wrong or bad to be in that place—it’s not wrong to admit that despite our best Christian service and religious diligence, we really don’t feel much love for God. What is wrong or bad is to deny the true state of our heart, or try to live behind a façade. The quip, “fake it ‘til you make it” is okay only if we eventually make it. It’s okay to feel “cool” in our love for God but we can’t stay there—if we need Him to awaken thirst in us, we should run to Him and tell Him so. He does love us, He will express that to us if we’re willing to listen, and when He does, loving Him back will be automatic.

I’ve always been struck by the verse in 1 John 4:19 that says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” If we take that literally, it means that every time we say, “I love you, God,” we’re really saying, “I love you too” because He’s already been loving us. Try it some time. Instead of saying, “I love you” in your personal prayer and worship times, say, “I love you too.” It makes a difference.

Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to spin the thoughts from this chapter off into a tangent. The chapter was all about loving God, but with a title like, “When You’re in Love,” I have to also apply this toward our interpersonal relationships with the people we love.

This was a convicting chapter for me. I’m still crazy in love with Jessica, but somehow without meaning to I’ve slipped out of my dancing shoes and into a comfortable pair of married guy’s slippers. Here’s what I mean. When we were dating we would call each other on the phone to say good night and we never wanted to hang up—we would talk so long that sometimes we actually fell asleep cradling the phone receiver. Today, however, after fourteen years of marriage, I can’t even stay awake with her for an entire movie (I don’t think I’ve finished watching a movie rental in the first sitting in years). Sounds pretty boring, huh?

Now I realize that we’re not dating any more, and I know that the reason I used to fall asleep with the phone was because I couldn’t fall asleep with her; however, I don’t want to lose the craziness of newly awakened love.

I realize this might be challenging to read if your marriage has collapsed or if you’re single and still waiting to meet someone special, but you can still apply this to other key relationships. What does “first love” look like for a parent? What does true friendship—I mean the Kirk, Spock, and McCoy type—look like? Are we still investing in our key relationships or are we too comfy in our slippers? We need both—we need the comfort of familiarity, but we can never lose the spark of crazy love.