Several years ago Anthony and Mary Keith Skinner visited the Clark family.

Anthony and Mary Keith are worshipers who know the love of God. Anthony is a dad, a singer/songwriter, and an author; and Mary Keith is a mom, a teacher, and an encourager. They are a lot of things, but mostly they are loved.

“People who have lived immersed in the Father’s love, simply can’t help but love; they’ve become transformed—they have become love.”

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You know what was really refreshing about the Skinners’ visit? They didn’t visit us for them. That’s not to say we aren’t good company, because we’re amazing. But they didn’t come to receive; they came to give. They walked through the door and started loving us before the coffee was fully brewed. And you know what was amazing? It was easy; they didn’t even have to try. People who have lived immersed in the Father’s love, simply can’t help but love; they’ve become transformed—they have become love.

Karen and I have begun to live this way as well. We are daily becoming convinced in our Father’s always-good love. And so we too are being transformed. You know what the best thing is about becoming love? You don’t have to try to love; it’s just the natural expression of one who is loved. All you have to do is walk through the door and before the coffee is fully brewed… well…done…

Love is an awesome thing. The more you know and experience, the more transformed into love you become. There is an ease that enters your life. Even in the midst of hardship there is a grace to live at rest—like Jesus when He slept through the storm.

“When you are loved and you know it, you don’t have to try not to sin, you don’t have to beg God for breakthrough, you don’t have to strive to obey, you don’t have to work up your love for God, your wife, your kids, your neighbor, your coworker, or even your enemy.”

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When you are loved and you know it, you don’t have to try not to sin, you don’t have to beg God for breakthrough, you don’t have to strive to obey, you don’t have to work up your love for God, your wife, your kids, your neighbor, your coworker, or even your enemy.

Jesus was love. It wasn’t hard for Him either. There was no striving. He didn’t have to try. All He had to do was keep His eyes on His Dad.

We went to Queen City Church, a wonderful family of believers, to worship with the Skinners that Sunday night before they headed to their Nashville home. It was beautiful, sweet, and powerful. It was all those things for several reasons. First, as my friend Andy Squyres says, Anthony Skinner’s voice is a million bucks. So there was that. But it was also beautiful, sweet, and powerful for a profoundly simpler reason: the Skinners weren’t there for themselves; they were there for the Father… and for all of us.

Mid-strum, Anthony muted his strings and paused, “I used to try and love God, but now I just let Him love me.”

Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

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