The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Manning

To believe means to realize not just with the head but also with the heart that God loves me in a creative, intimate, unique, reliable and tender way. Creative: out of His love I came forth; through His love I am who I am. Intimate: His love reaches out to the deepest in me. Unique: His love embraces me as I am, not as I am considered to be by other people or supposed to be in my own self-image. Reliable: His love will never let me down. Tender…Tenderness is what happens to you when you know you are deeply and sincerely liked by someone. If you communicate to me that you like me, not just love me as your brother in Christ, you open up to me the possibility of self-respect, self-esteem and wholesome self-love. Your acceptance of me banishes my fears. My defense mechanisms-- sarcasm, aloofness, name-dropping, self-together-- start to fall. I drop my mask and stop disguising my voice. You instill self-confidence in me and allow me to smile at my weaknesses and absurdities. The look in your eyes gives me permission to make the journey to the interior of myself and make peace with that part of myself with which I could never find peace before. I become more open, sincere, vulnerable and affectionate. I grow tender... If the question were put to you, “Do you honestly believe that God likes you?”—not loves you, because theologically He must—how would you answer? God loves by necessity of love; He would cease to be God. But if you could answer, “The Father is very fond of me,” there would come a relaxedness, a serenity and a compassionate attitude toward yourself that is a reflection of God’s own tenderness…He loves those most who need him most, who rely on Him, depend upon Him and trust Him in everything. Little He cares whether you’ve been as pure as St. John or as sinful as the prostitute in Simon the Pharisee’s house. All that matters is trust. It seems to me that learning how to trust God defines the meaning of Christian living. God doesn’t wait until we have our moral life in order before He starts loving us.