God is Light / Growing in Love

Embracing the Mess: Where Christ's Love Grows
Life is messy. Church is messy. We are messy. And perhaps that's exactly the point.

There's a beautiful paradox in the Christian journey that we often overlook in our pursuit of perfection: it's precisely in the messiness of life where Christ's love grows deepest in our hearts. Not when everything runs smoothly, not when we've got it all figured out, but right in the middle of the chaos, the imperfection, and the struggle.

The Dotted Soul
Imagine holding a pristine white sheet of paper in your hands. Someone places a single black dot somewhere on that page and asks you not to look at it. Impossible, isn't it? Your eyes gravitate immediately to that one imperfection among all that whiteness.

This simple illustration reveals a profound truth about our relationship with God. Scripture tells us that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). He is the spotless page—pure, complete, without a single dot of darkness. But we? We're covered in dots.

The Psalms paint this dual reality beautifully. On one hand, we read that God "created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13-14). We are God's masterpiece, carefully crafted with intention and love.

Yet Psalm 51:5 reveals another truth: "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." From our very beginning, we carry what we might call our "dot nature"—that tendency to want things our way, to believe we know better, to seek control rather than surrender.

Two Kinds of Light
Understanding the nature of God's light helps us grasp what we're being called into. In Hebrew, there are two distinct words for light. The first, "mior," refers to physical light—photons from the sun, a lamp, or a fire. This is natural, created light.

But when Scripture declares that God IS light, it uses a different word: "or." This isn't about physical illumination but represents truth, hope, clarity, and the very presence of God. It's the manifestation of His nature—His love, holiness, power, character, order, justice, and truth in their purest forms.

This is the light that dispels all darkness and ignorance. This is the light that was spoken into existence on the first day of creation, before the sun and moon were even formed. When God said, "Let there be light," He was establishing divine order, truth, and presence over the formless void and chaos.

The Invitation to Pure Light Fellowship
Here's where it gets personal and challenging: God calls each of us into what we might call "pure light fellowship" with Him—a relationship where there is no darkness at all, where every dot can be seen, addressed, and cleansed.

First John 1:3-4 extends this remarkable invitation: "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make your joy complete."

Complete joy. Not happiness dependent on circumstances, but deep, abiding joy that comes from walking in authentic relationship with our Creator through His Son, Jesus Christ. This joy flows from bringing our dots—all of them—into His pure light.

Why We Resist the Light
If this fellowship brings complete joy, why do we resist it? The answer is uncomfortably simple: we love our dots more than we think we do.

Jesus himself identified this resistance: "Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed" (John 3:19-20).

There's something oddly comfortable about remaining in control, even if that control is an illusion. Our dots represent our autonomy, our way of doing things, our rules rather than God's.

In C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," when the children ask if Aslan the lion is safe, Mr. Beaver replies, "Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good."

This captures our dilemma perfectly. We cannot trust God to always do things our way, to let us maintain control, to avoid uncomfortable change. That feels unsafe. But He is good—purely, completely, unfailingly good.

The Promise of Confession
Here's the transformative promise at the heart of this message: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

To confess means to agree with God—to see our dots the way He sees them, to acknowledge what His pure light reveals. And when we do, He doesn't condemn us. He cleanses us. The blood of Jesus "purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

This isn't a one-time event but a daily, lifelong journey. God doesn't expose all our dots at once—that would overwhelm us. Instead, He lovingly reveals them one at a time, as we're ready to surrender them, always with the purpose of setting us free and helping us grow in His love.

Red Dot Therapy
Want a practical way to identify when the control dot is active in your life? Pay attention to your reaction at red lights.

That traffic signal that makes you late, that interrupts your perfectly planned schedule, that forces you to stop when you want to go—it reveals something. Does frustration rise? Anger? Anxiety about not being in control?

These red lights offer what we might call "red dot therapy." They expose our need for control and our unresolved anger. They teach us humility and surrender. They remind us that even when we can't control our circumstances, we can trust the One who orchestrates all things for the good of those who love Him.

One Dot at a Time
The journey toward pure light fellowship isn't about perfection—it's about progression. One dot at a time. One confession at a time. One surrender at a time.

Don't let condemnation overwhelm you when you see your dots. They're already covered by the blood of Christ. God's not trying to show you how horrible you are; He's revealing how great He is and how deeply He loves you.

In our messy lives and our messy churches, Christ's love is growing in our hearts. The dots don't disqualify us—they're the very places where grace does its deepest work.

So embrace the mess. Bring your dots into the light. And watch as God's pure love transforms you, one beautiful, grace-filled moment at a time.