Here is a possible definition of love – “When people can be totally open with one another and feel totally safe at the same time.”

I derived this definition from a passage in a book called Will the Real Me Please Stand Up, by John Powell. It reminds me of a statement I heard many years ago by a member of a church in Tallahassee: “What I like about church is that I can be myself and it is OK.”

I still think of that as the most spiritually powerful statement I have ever heard. John Powell, in the above referenced book, says that for any person to reach his or her full potential such person must have at least one other person he or she can be totally open with and feel totally safe with at the same time.

I’m not sure we ever reach the completeness of this ideal in any human relationship, but thankfully some relationships do approach the ideal.

The good news of Christianity is that we are not completely dependent upon human relationships to experience this kind of love. A Christian is someone who believes in, and experiences, this kind of love from God. Jesus is the person through whom we are loved in this manner.

We can be totally open with Jesus and feel totally safe at the same time. By accepting this love fully into our hearts and minds we are liberated to reach our full potential as human beings.

All it takes for you or anyone else to have this kind of love in your life is to open your heart and mind to Jesus and welcome his love. The Church at its best is a community of people who have this love of Jesus in their lives and whose mission is to share this kind of love with one another and the world.

In my wildest dreams I imagine the church fulfilling its mission to such a degree that someone will one day say, “What I like about the world is that I can be myself and it is OK.” Wouldn’t that be great?If you have this type of love in your life, or would like to, please join the church of your choice and help this dream become reality.