Does God Love Me Just The Way I Am?

We've all heard this phrase thrown around, "well, God loves me just the way I am."  This claim is an interesting one and, although this cliched idiom has been asserted by more than a few harlots, under the current climate of diminishing love to a near-emotional reaction from its loftier senses and purposes, it warrants a critical consideration.

At the onset, it must be ascertained as to what sense this statement is being made.  If in saying "God loves me just the way I am" we are meaning God has bestowed His great loving grace upon me whilst I was still mired in my slough of sin and transgression, then by all means, this statement is not only true it is profound and powerful.

On the other hand, however, if in professing "God loves me just the way that I am" I mean to say that God accepts and is content with my current wretched state, than by no means can this be acceptable for this would be to disregard the holy and righteous character of God Himself.  He is loving.  But this comes out of the reality that we are so horribly miserable in our sin.  After all, if we were already acceptable and pleasing to Him, He would not have had to die on a cross!

The truth is that God loves us so much that He desires something more for us, He demands that we be discontent with who we are currently with the understanding that our pilgrimage presses us on to perfection.  We should not think that God would tolerate anything less for us–now that would be un-loving!

Think of the man who loves His car.  Although he loves his car no less when it is full of dirt and grime, it is that same measure of love that compels him to repair it when it is broken, scrub it when it is dirty, and to keep it properly maintained.  To say that he 'loves his car just the way it is' would be to betray the intensity of his affections for his car.

In a similar though far-greater sense, God loves us just the way we are but He is not content to leave us in our sorry states.  He purchased us at a great price–the blood of His Son–that comes with the expectation of reparation.  He does love us the way we are but, thankfully, He is not content to leave us this way!