This month’s view may cause much controversy, since I will be challenging a new age teaching that has crept into the church. I find that many have been deceived with this false doctrine and will defend it with great zeal.

You Must Love Yourself…

I know it will shock you, but nowhere does the Scripture say that we are to love ourselves. To the contrary, Jesus says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let himdeny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” 1 Clinging to self ambitions and desires will destroy us. I know this from my own experience.

So, where do we get the idea that we are to love ourselves? Didn’t Jesus say that we are to “Love others as we love ourselves?” No, He didn’t. Jesus did say, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 2

This commandment is well known to those who know Old Testament scriptures. It comes from Leviticus 19:18, which states:

“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (NKJV)

Jesus is telling us to love as a merciful God loves. It is not about vengeance or even thinking badly about others (holding a grudge). It is about loving others, without any emphasis on self.

Our purpose at aboundinglove.org is to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness to the world.

“He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1

“And I will forgive their wickedness and I will never again remember their sin.” 2

Getting Off Life’s Treadmill…

We are loved and forgiven by God, declared righteous in God’s eyes by virtue of belonging to Christ. That is, if you are a believer in the finished work of Christ.

Faith in Christ takes us off the performance treadmill, relieving us of the need to measure up to the standards of God and others. Some of you have spent your life trying to measure up. You may hear the guilt of failing to fulfill the unrealistic ideals of your parents, teachers or bosses. The resulting anger and pain from the hurt and frustration may be driving you insane or left you addicted to drugs, sex, food or other vices.

But God accepts you just the way you are. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect. He knows you can’t do it alone. For this reason, He provides the grace or ability and direction we need to build a new life.

Welcome to the monthly view, where I am often led to answer a letter that will hopefully speak to many.

“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.” [1]

An Inquiring Mind…

Here’s a letter from a lady named Denise, who wrote directly to me, saying:

“I read your interesting memoirs in Will You Die For Me?, and I feel that some basic questions were left unanswered. According to your book, both your childhood and adolescence were fairly normal and happy. Yet you were willing and able to slaughter seven people. This can’t be explained by Charles Manson’s influence since, again according to this book, you were willing to circumvent his desires by keeping a cache of “speed” secret from him and disobeying a suggestion he made after the murders.

In your opinion, what was lacking in your personality that permitted you to mercilessly murder other people?

And what was the reason for this lack? Thank you. Best wishes.”

What a joy to share another monthly view with you whom God loves. One of my favorite verses is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

My life began to change in 1975, when I overheard a visitor quote John 3:16 to another prisoner. I believe this word from God will change your life, too. Here is what the Lord showed to me:

• Word of God: “God so loved the world…”
• Blood of Jesus: “…that He gave His Son…”
• Faith in the Blood: “…that whosoever believes in Him [Jesus]…”
• Everlasting Life: “…should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The Holy Spirit reveals God’s love, sparks faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus, and He gives us everlasting life.

“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” [1]

Word of God…

The bible is God’s love story, “…God so loved the world…” He loves you with an everlasting love. This is real love, unlike the love of the world that many of us were chasing for too long.

Welcome to this month's view. I'm glad to hear that you enjoy not only the views, but the entire website. As you read, I pray that God's love will be revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.1 Remember, "We love God because He first loved us."2 We are beloved by God!

KLove.com...

Do you find it hard to stay focused on your relationship with the Lord throughout the day? If so, one way to focus is by listening to contemporary Christian music on KLove.com. As you do, God's word of love and grace will renew your mind to the finished work of Jesus, producing a sense of ritheousness and perfect peace.3

"Therefore by Him [Jesus] let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."4

Serenity Prayer...

My mother's favorite prayer was the Serenity Prayer. Often, she would pray it out loud to overcome as things got too tough for her to handle. I recall her cry:

It is such a privilege to share this month's view with so many around the world. "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."1

Bitter, Foolish, and Ignorant...

Like myself, you may recall a time when you were bitter, foolish, and ignorant. When we are bitter inside, we do many foolish and ignorant things. Listen to the Psalmist sing unto the Lord:

"Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
and I was all torn up inside.

I was so foolish and ignorant --
I must have seemed like a senseless
animal to You.

Welcome. It is such a privilege to encourage you, whether to be saved, or to grow as a believer in God's love.

We're all growing...

None of us have arrived at complete spiritual maturity. I find that many come to Christ, but have no idea how to grow due to lack of discipleship. The Apostle Peter writes:

"Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual
milk so that you will grow into a full experience of 
salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you
have had a taste of the Lord's kindness."1

We can live a Godly life because we have tasted of God's kindness. We have hurts, frustrations, and insecuritites that we can only overcome by growing in our experience of God's love.

Welcome to abounding love, which is an outreach from prison, where I teach a weekly class. Recently, I've been led to open the class with 2 Chronicles 16:9, which states:

"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."

When you read the above verse in context (vs. 7-10), you'll see that the prophet Hanani rebuked King Asa of Judah for depending on Syria's army, instead of trusting in God, as the King had done in earlier battles. No matter what battle you are going through today, you must learn that the eyes of the LORD are upon you for deliverance from your dependencies.

There are an array of programs and people to help us deal with our problems, but none of these are sufficient without God's help. We must put our trust in God. Many people in recovery don't want to hear about God. King Asa threw Hanani in prison, and put him in stocks. Either we humbly acknowledge our failures when someone points out a problem, or we become angry. If we do the latter, our efforts in recovery will ultimately fail.

Welcome to all. Our purpose at abounding love is to remind you that God loves you unconditionally. "...God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."1

Sinners or Saints...

Sinners are those who don't believe in God's love, that Christ died to provide the gift of righteousness, and rose again to give eternal life. "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."2

Saints are those who believe in God's love and grace. The Apostle Paul addresses many of his letters to "the saints," such as to the Ephesians: "...to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."3

As a sinner, reading the Apostle Paul's letters will be like reading someone else's mail. But when you receive God's loving grace and gift of righteousness, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart to reveal God's Word. Paul writes: "And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us."4

Welcome! "May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. All praise to God, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ."

Are You Happy?

I receive letters from those who have worked hard all their lives, and when asked if they are happy, they reluctantly say "no." They seem to think that I am happier in prison. They say, "You are freer than many I know outside." They are speaking of those bound in sin with emotional pain, living defeated lives.

For me, happiness doesn't come from the location we live, what we do, or from our possessions. These things do not define who we are. True happiness is a gift from God. It is birthed in our hearts when we receive forgiveness for sin and the gift of righteousness through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness brings happiness...

Many of us have failed miserably. I took lives which cannot be replaced, and I hurt many others. So what can we do about guilt? King David was guilty of serious sin -- adultery, deceit, and murder -- yet he acknowledged his guilt, confessed his sins to God, experienced God's forgiveness, and he found joy.

Merry Christmas! As you can see from the past couple of views, I find it impossible to love and forgive myself. Lacking the ability to love and forgive helps me to understand the inability of those I have harmed to forgive me. Jesus said:

“…With men it is impossible, but not with God: For with God all things are possible.” 1

Forgiving Others

The act of forgiveness is impossible outside the grace of God. Forgiveness takes place in our heart through the eyes of grace. Let me remind you that grace is God’s ability working in us, that is, the power of Jesus’ blood at the cross, the power of resurrection life, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of God makes us able to do what we cannot do in our own ability.

The apostle Paul instructs us, saying:

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” 2