The message of Jesus is simple:

Love God. Love others.

That’s it.

Everything else is secondary.

No “buts.”

No sinner’s prayer.

No conversions.

God loved us before we knew who God was.

So we should love God, it’s only fair.

God loved others, too, while God loved us. So we should love others, too, like God does.

It’s difficult, sometimes, to love others who are particularly unlikable, much less lovable.

Pause and consider for a moment, I’m sure you can think of someone who is difficult to love.

God calls us to love. No matter how difficult is is to love some people, God loves us, and them, too.

God loves us as a child loves a parent.

The love of God made us, and the breath and love of God courses through our veins and pumps our hearts.

God loves us.

There’s no need for scripture — if you call yourself a Christian, and don’t understand God’s love, then you’ve missed the point of scripture, anyway.

If you’re not a Christian, then you probably won’t believe scripture. Just know, that God loves you, too.

God loves us. From the most self-deprecating, to the most self-righteous, we are loved.

The creator of the wind and the sun and the stars and moon shares the same spirit, and calls us to connect to the same breath that blows through and across and in each of us.

We are loved.

You are loved.