Day 139 - Condemning Words

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Condemnation is an identity crusher."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 59.

There is nothing like a healthy dose of condemnation to make us question who we are. I'll bet you can think back to your childhood and remember words that were spoken over your life that still have a power over you in ways that are unmistakable. If you are like the vast majority of the people on this planet, you too will have had way too many negative and condemning words spoken into your life that continue to influence you today.

Why does condemnation have such a power over our identity like I believe it does? Could it be that we just weren't designed to be condemned in any way? I believe that is exactly the case.

We are made to live forever in a life-giving, positive place with our creator as our daily companion. Because we choose something less than that idealistic way of living, we have been placed in a world that wants us to literally kill ourselves trying to prove something we already are.

It is when we fail to gather that proof of who we are that the words of those who were just as lost as we are come back to haunt us. The condemning words of those we looked up to in the past, who were stuck in victim thinking as we can be at times, is what helps to fuel belief in the lie that we will never be the victor we feel like we should be deep down inside of our souls.

That's why God has taken such elaborate steps to eliminate condemnation from our lives as far as He is concerned. The absolute beauty and power of a savior is something I don't think we let ourselves ponder for very long.

You see, condemnation can only come from God when we choose how we want our lives to be judged. If we choose to be judged by what we do as proof of who we are, we can't help but to hear the condemning words from God Himself. We will never be able to do enough to measure up to the ideals of perfection required to commune with our creator. Choosing to be judged based on our actions is a strategy that assures defeat.

Jesus isn't a the founder of a religion. He is the eliminator of condemnation. The fact that he took on the punishment of all our imperfections makes us perfect. He stood in our place so that we could have communion with our creator no matter how good our bad our lives look at any given moment. No other religion can do what Christianity does. A follower of Christ can't be condemned because there are no expectations when it comes to performance as far as God is concerned.

Check out this simple Bible verse regarding condemnation.

The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. Psalm 34:22 (NIV)

None of those who come to God will be condemned. It doesn't say as soon as you get your life in order condemnation will be gone. It doesn't even say that if you are good at what you do for God you won't be condemned. No, condemnation is gone when we simply come to Him. That's the beautiful message of Jesus Christ. Where all other religions require performance to be the benchmark of acceptance, Christianity stands out by making acceptance automatic by what God has done rather than what we might do.

If performance doesn't enter the picture when acceptance is concerned, then how can there be condemnation? Condemnation comes when we are chastised for not being good enough at what one person thinks we should be good at. Condemnation comes when a parent is disappointed at how we have turned out. Condemnation comes when an employer finds fault with our abilities and actions at work. Condemnation comes when a spouse rejects us because our love for them didn't rise to a level of acceptance to meet their needs. With Christ, condemnation is gone because performance isn't even part of the equation as far as acceptance, worth and love are concerned.

That's why our identity is crushed when condemnation is allowed to remain in our lives. It is God who made us. It is God who has given us an identity. The fact that we are God's children is what makes our victor status something we can live out whether we are performing up to a some standard of excellence in our lives or not.

If you are doubting who you are because of the condemning words someone has spoken over you life in your past maybe the issues is that you really don't believe who God says you are. Next time you are reacting to the hurtful words of your past say to yourself, "Does it really matter that I will never be able to __________ (fill in the blank)? I am a Child of God's"

Let the power of who you are overwhelm the lies spoken over your life. God is the only truth we will ever need to have in our lives. Why not believe who He says we are and then live the life of the victor He has made possible for us to live in this world today.

Day 138 - Hatred

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Victory and defeat will be part of the holy’s life just as it will be part of the unholy’s life. Oh, but the day when we are called home, how things will change!"

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 52.

I happen to believe that there is so much more to life than what we experience here on a day-by-day basis. I think there is something greater going on than just what the results of our actions happen to be. That's why I have taken the position that I am so much more than what my victory's or my defeats might say about me. I simply can't stand for my identity to be limited by what this world says is right for me when who I am is concerned.

If I buy into the world's way of doing things then the only way I can call myself a victor is if victory is all I experience. Give me a season where victory seems to be eluding me and my victor status will be the furthest thing from my ability to believe. Stay in that place where I don't believe I am a victor and victim thinking can't help but to take hold in ways that I know will cause victimization to others around me.

The same can be said about how we sometimes misinterpret what the Bible says about us. It is so easy to believe that God is communicating that only the good will prosper and only the bad will suffer. Sadly, this just isn't the case on this side of Heaven. Our circumstances have so little to do with our ability to live up to some religious standard. Believing that our good life is dependent on how well we live out a holiness is such a foolish and dangerous way of living.

How can I be so certain of this prospect? Just think of the life of Jesus. Is there anyone who was or will be as holy as God's own son? I don't think so! Yet, as holy as this Christ was, His circumstances didn't turn out such that any one could say that His life was good. This isn't said to predict that the lives of a follower of Christ will be just as bad - that's just isn't the case at all. This is said to help us all disconnect the circumstances of life we live from being able to follow some man-made religious or worldly standard. Good or bad, holy or unholy, moral or immoral, winner or loser - we all will have good times in our life and we all will face the bad as well.

That's why I'm so stuck on talking about the fact we are victors, not because of what we have done but because of what God has done for us. If I look to anything I do for confirmation of my victor status I will eventually be disappointed - so much so that I might abandon feeling I will ever be a victor. When I get to such a low point as that, victim thinking is all I have left. When we are stuck in that trap of victim thinking is when we become the kinds of victimizers that make our Victim-Based Society thrive like it is today.

So, the next time you come against some challenging circumstances, maybe it is time to think about what is going on from a different vantage point. Rather than letting the badness make you think there is something wrong with you maybe it is time to think there is something wrong with the world. Check out today's Bible reading as it relates to this point.

If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. John 15:18-19 (MSG)

Did you know the world hates you? That's why the badness is happening to you. The world can't stand that you would dare to believe that you are something more than what the total sum of your abilities prove. The evil behind this world doesn't want you to walk in the power that you are more than what you can do and how well you can do those things. Why?  Because if you dare to believe that you are more than what you see in the mirror, you might just be able to walk in a freedom that the world doesn't want you to have. It is when we walk in that freedom that all of heaven opens up to us in ways I don't know we will ever be able to fully understand.

You see, God choose you. He hand picked you to fight the evil that you face in ways He has empowered you to do. When you choose to no longer live on the world's terms, the world can't help but to hate you. Even if you choose to live by the world's terms the love the world will show you will eventually being badness as well. This world will never be able to love in ways that I believe we will experience when our time here is up.

We all have a choice in this life. We can work our tails off trying to get the wold to love us even when that love is so far short of the goodness we long for in our lives. Alternatively, we can live believing who God says we are and let the chips fall where they may. Either choice doesn't guarantee a good life just like it doesn't predestine a bad one. Good and bad are going to be the part of the lives of those who choose to live according to the terms of this world just as they will be for those who reject this world.

The difference for the victor in choosing to live rejecting the world's ways is the concept of peace. Peace comes as we live knowing we are loved, wanted and valuable for something greater than anything this world can ever provide. That peace can't be robbed when bad times hit like the peace of this world can be. Relying on our ability to guarantees good circumstances in our lives to provide the peace we look for is a recipe for disaster.

Why not take a stand today? Stand firmly on the fact that you are a victor no matter what the world throws at your today. That's what God says about you anyway - you are a victor. Maybe it is time to just start believing what He says rather than looking for proof in what you do to make you feel like what you already are. Let the peace of Heaven be what guards you hearts as you work to live out the victor status God has made available for your life today.

Day 137 - Judging A Victor

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"We in The Church look at a man’s circumstances in order to judge how much of a victor that man is. This is wrong, and it makes those of us who don’t measure up to a certain elusive standard of victory feel like victims."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 40.

Circumstances are such a lousy means of judging the extent of whether a person is a victor in God’s eyes or not. How can I say this with such conviction? It is because of how God treated Jesus that makes me believe that circumstances, and what we do with those circumstances that makes me believe God has a totally different perspective when it comes to the victor’s life. Check out today’s Bible reading.

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17 (NKJV)

On its own, this verse doesn’t speak much about circumstances and God’s view of His son as victor. You have to realize that, up to this point,  Jesus hadn’t done a single thing worthy enough to be written about in The Bible. God was saying, “Check out my son - I am so proud of Him.” He wasn’t proud because of what Jesus did. He was proud because of who Jesus was.

It was Christ’s identity as God’s Child that made God proud. It’s the same with us. Our standing with God is in no way connected with what we have done or will do for Him. Our standing is complete because of our walk with God, not because what we do as we walk with Him.

It will always be a temptation for us to look first to accomplishment and circumstance to judge a person’s standing. Sometimes, that’s the prudent thing to do in this world. In God’s economy, accomplishment and circumstance play such a different role when it comes to identity. Our identity as God’s Child is secure and that’s what makes us a victor.

There is one word in today’s Bible verse that we absolutely must hold onto as we face a world that is judging us based on how well we do. That word is “beloved”. Jesus wasn’t God’s son; He was God’s beloved son. That’s what we are as we give our lives to God. We are His beloved son or daughter.

There is power in that word, beloved. The victim thinker might be God’s son or daughter but he/she doesn’t believe they are God’s BELOVED son or daughter. Victim thinkers are trying to earn that title of beloved. Hang onto the fact that you, a victor in God’ eyes, are the beloved. It isn’t what you do that makes you God’s beloved - it is who you are. Living this kind of life can make today different when it comes to victor living vs. victim thinking.

Day 136 - You Just Can’t Lose

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Victors just can’t lose even when the score seems to point out that they are behind from a worldly perspective."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 24.

We have been so conditioned to look to the scoreboard when it comes to whether we are winning or losing. The game of life isn’t like any sports event in which we we might participate. The score just doesn’t tell the tale when it comes to winning and losing from this life’s perspective.

Chasing a score is such a role driven kind of life. If you really believe the saying, “Those with the most toys at the end wins!”, you are in for a wild roller coaster ride of a life. What usually ends up happening is that identity is tied to the toys, not even to the prospect of winning or losing. When the toys go out of style, what happens to your identity?

Winning in life, for the victor is so much more than who has the most ___________________ (you fill in the blank). Winning in life has something more to do with the closeness of God than which side is on top. Check out today’s Bible reading to see God’s perspective on keeping score.

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

God doesn’t seem all that concern with the score. After all He knows who wins - God does! I have a good friend of mine who sums up The Bible in that way - “God Wins!” Look at the verse to see what God is concerned about.

First of all He is concerned for our attitude. He says, “Be strong and courageous…” He knows that we will look at the scoreboard and the clock and fear will grip us as we feel the pressure to make up lost ground as we feel time slipping away. Fear does an amazing job of getting us into a place where we can miss what is really important. Be strong and courageous - it isn’t about the outcome that is important. There is so much more with God.

The most important thing God is concerned about from today’s Bible reading is that we know He is always there. It says the Lord our God goes with us. His presence is always there. Sometimes when we get preoccupied with the scoreboard and/or the clock we can’t feel His Presence. Our focus on our need to do more blinds us to seeing Him. God knows that is a bad place for us to be.

What’s the score in your life? The more we can eliminate our need to know the answer to that question the better chance we have of living out this life as a victor. As you are faced with score keeping and clock watching today, remember that God is with you no matter what the scoreboard might be saying at this given moment. Live in that place of God’s power knowing His Presence is all we need to change everything about the game of life we find ourselves part of today.

Day 135 - Victim of Failure

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"The more we believe our identity is somehow related to the pains of life that have made us victims the greater the possibility that we, the victims, can become the victimizers. As dangerous as it is for the secular world to allow victimhood to define its identity, it is totally devastating for The Church."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 20.

With failure comes victimization. It hurts when we fail. Sometimes that hurt is so profound that we get to places where we end up hurting others. When the sting of failure has come so often our view of life can darken to the point where we can barely see the light of goodness in our lives. It’s those times when victim thinking can become so profound in a person’s life that the victim can become the victimizer.

Key is to not let victim thinking take such a profound hold that victimization can be a real possibility. That’s easier said then done. Victim thinking is so insidious. It slowly sneaks into our lives that often times it is hard for us to recognize the symptoms. Even when we do recognize the symptoms the victim thinker is oftentimes slow to admit that they are stuck in this dark place.

I love what today’s Bible reading says about being in that dark place victim thinking can take us. Check it out for yourself.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (The Message)

Four words are key in this verse - they are the antidote to the kinds of victim thinking that can lead to victimization. “No Longer Have To…” These words speak of choice. Victim thinking, just like victor living is a choice. We don’t have to live under the “continuous, low-flying black cloud” of victim thinking. Choosing to live under a new power, the power of Christ, is what makes it possible for those of us profoundly stuck in victim thinking to turn our lives around and live the victor lives we were made to live.

Though we may continue to face brutal tyranny in our lives, that works to make us victims, we no longer have to fear the brutal tyranny of death! That strong wind of Christ is what gives us a strong footing when the horrific winds of hell blow against us in this life. I wish I could say it makes life better, there just isn’t any guarantee of a better life for the victor or for the victim thinker. Life is going to be what it is going to be.

Today can be your day to feel the changing winds in your life. It’s time to take a deep breath of the new breeze that is coming your way. The black cloud of victim thinking can’t stand against the refreshing breeze that is Jesus Christ. Your victor status is guaranteed in Him. It is critical that you CHOOSE to be a victor. The well being of the lives of those around you literally depend on you making this choice. Remember, victim thinking will lead to victimization. Make today your day to catch that new wind of your victor identity through Christ in your life.

Day 134 - The Stench

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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A pastor came to speak at our church not too long ago. His name is Brad Reed. He is part of the Dream Center in New York City. Brad is an interesting character. He's from the deep south, talks really fast and has a perspective on a characteristic that victors have to have in order to live out the life God has special made for them.

Brad knows a great deal about the issue of forgiveness. A lot has gone on in his life that has made it so that he has had to forgive. I'm learning that forgiveness is a key to victor living. Without it, not only are we doomed to victim thinking, we are going to eventually become victimizers in ways that will make forgiveness an issue someone else will need to deal with as it relates to our offenses.

Forgiveness is really the key when it comes to the issue of victor living and victim thinking. We can either forgive and get ourselves positioned where victor living is a real possibility or we can wallow in that place of offense where bitterness threatens to take over in our lives. Bitterness is probably one of the greatest killers to relationship we will ever have to deal with. Letting bitterness wrap its tentacles in our soul is what victim thinkers do when they simply can't get to a place where they can forgive all the things those have done to them that has brought offense, great or small.

Brad said this about bitterness, "Bitterness is offense that has spoiled in our lives". That statement really struck home for me because of something I was able to experience many years ago. I had the privilege of going down to Mississippi a few months after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. I spent a week down there helping families clean up from the devastation caused by that powerful hurricane. In one home there was a team of 15 of us clearing out the house of a sweet woman fighting a battle with cancer. This particular house was over one mile from the coast and yet the walls were all stained twelve feet off the ground. The title surge was twelve feet deep that far from the coast.

Everything in the house had to go. I was in the garage working with a chiropractor from Connecticut. He was a giant of a man. Tough as nails. We were in the garage cleaning out all the silt from among this lady's possessions. All of a sudden there came wafting through my respirator a smell that I will never forget. Inside the house some of our team mates were moving the refrigerator out to the curb. They happened to drop the fridge and the doors came flying open. Inside was food that had spoiled and rotted. All of us gagged for hours as we simply couldn't get that smell out of the air.

That's the picture I got when Brad spoke of bitterness being offense that has spoiled. We all get offended from time to time. Some of the offenses we encounter are serious, some of them are really quite petty. You know what I'm talking about here. No matter how serious or how petty, offense is something that has to be dealt with. Failing to deal with offense makes it so it ripens and ripens until suddenly that offense spoils. The stink from spoiled offenses is just as bad as that smell that came from a waterlogged refrigerator that had sat in the hot, humid Mississippi air for several months after Hurricane Katrina.

The only fix I have found for offense is forgiveness. Hey, I know how hard that is to hear. It is not an easy thing to forgive, particularly when the people you need to forgive will probably never change. But, let me tell you something. If bitterness is spoiled offense, I never want that kind of stink to be what others think about me. That's exactly what will happen if I allow offense to spoil in my life in such a way as to cause bitterness. That stench is something I will never forget and I hope it drives me to forgive time and time again. I hope you too will get rid of that stench in your life by forgiving as well.

Forgiveness is so hard because of what we think we have to do as part of the forgiveness process. When we forgive we are not letting the offender off the hook. When we forgive we are not saying what they did to us was OK. When we forgive we are not required to put ourselves in a place where we have to come into relationship with the offender. Forgiveness has so little to do with the offender and so much to do with us.

It is us that God is worried about when it comes to forgiveness. He wants us free, heck He died for our freedom. Offense that leads to bitterness is nothing short of a prison sentence for those of us who have been offended. Forgiveness is the key to getting out of that prison.

Brad said something about forgiveness that really hit home in my life. He said, "There is no way to forgive someone if you feel superior to them." Ouch, that resonated deep in my being. How many times have I been offended, and then held a grudge against that jerk that offended me? Every time that person came to mind I see how bad they are and think how right and good I am. If that isn't a superior attitude, I don't know what is.

How can I ever forgive if I think I'm better than that person who offended me? You see as badly as that person treated me, I've treated God even worse. If God can forgive me, then shouldn't I be able to forgive that person who offended me? Brad put it this way, "The gospel is the greatest equalizer there is. It first takes us down to the level of dirt and then raises us up to the heights of an heir where all of God is available to all of us ."

The Bible tends to agree with what Brad said about forgiveness. Check out today's reading with me.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14 (NIV)

If we forgive, then God will forgive us. By implication the opposite must be just as true. If we find it hard to forgive others then it sure seems like God will find it hard to forgive us as well. As bad as I hate that stench of bitterness in my life, I can't stand the thought of not being forgiven by my Heavenly Father.

How ripe are you right now? Has something happened in your life that might be turning to bitterness? I can't urge you enough to stop what you are doing and forgive. It's really simple, but I have to tell you it's not easy. Picture that person who has offended you and simply say, "I forgive you." Then every time a picture of that person comes to mind forgive again. If you are like me it might take a thousand times before forgiveness really starts to take hold. Don't worry about that. The minute you take the first step, God rushes in. He disinfects your life so that stench of bitterness will be a distant memory to you and to those around you. He also opens the door to a prison you have been locked up in for way too long.

Forgiveness is such an important characteristic of the victor God made you to be. Honestly, forgiveness is the only thing we can do to be the most god-like in this world. It takes a big God to forgive. That bigness resides in each and everyone of us He calls His Child. Don't let offense be something that makes it possible for victim thinking to take over. Forgive, forgive and then forgive again. Your freedom depends on you being like the Father who has done so much to make you His child.

Day 133 - Choose Love

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"Love based on the choice to love is something that is real and worth risking all for. This doesn’t make God weak or somehow dysfunctional in His love for us. It just confirms the fact that love without choice isn’t something worth living for and God simply won’t accept a counterfeit love like that."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 146.

Siting at dinner the other night my family was talking about all the crazy things going on these days. There are so many evil things happening in the world around us. Hatred and death seems to be on the rise. In the middle of our discussion the question, "Why did God create Satan in the first place?" was asked. Ever think about questions like this? Sometimes I think my brain will explode trying to figure out God particularly with regards to things like good vs evil.  

Sitting around the dinner table we talked about evil and where it comes from. You see, that question assumes that Satan is the creator of evil. If that were the case then God must be one really messed up being having created the creator of evil. We all came to realize that that view of God just doesn't fit who we know this God to be. So maybe our assumptions about evil needed to be challenged a bit - and our discussion really did that for us that evening. 

I just don't think God is the creator of evil. In fact, I really don't believe He created the creator of evil. You see, Satan was once an angel in heaven with God. He was described as the Angel of Light. His beauty was only eclipsed by the beauty and majesty of God. Something in Satan broke at some point in heaven. Jealousy became so profound that he turned against God. Satan took such a direct stand against God that he and his followers were kicked out of heaven. 

Then God did something that changed heaven for all eternity. He took away free will. From that terrible moment when Satan choose his own way over God's, God asked all the heavenly beings to make a choice - God's way or the highway. One-third of the angels choose to follow Satan. 

What a sad day that must have been in heaven. I'll bet close relationships were split up as a result of the choices individual angels had to make. Worse than that, can you imagine the dismay God felt as his heart was broken by those He created choosing to love someone other than Him? You see, it wasn't Satan that created evil. It was the ability to have free choice that made evil possible in the first  place. 

So why does God allow free will if it leads to evil? The answer to that question is summed up with one word - Love. Love without free will isn't really love at all. If I am forced to love someone is that really love. The power of love only happens when we have the choice as to whether we will love or not. God is willing to let free will be there, even when the result might be the creation of evil, just because love really can't be trusted unless it comes as a result of our freedom to choose. 

Today's Bible reading comes from the Book of Jeremiah. It talks about the benefits of loving God when we choose to come to Him. 

This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:2-3 (NIV)

I believe God is desperate for His creation to choose to come to Him. I don't mean that God is in any way broken in some way that we might be the fix to His situation. I think that God craves relationship in a way that is not only healthy but Oh so right. If God were just lonely He could create companions who would have no choice than to simply care for His every need. No, God doesn't need something from us, He wants us. He wants to commune with a creation that chooses to come to Him and relate with Him. 

That's why God is willing to risk the possibility of free will turning to evil. He desires for us to choose to love Him. That's the only kind of love God will stand for. Forcing us to love Him by removing free will might eliminate the possibility of evil in this world but that's not a kind of love that makes any sense as far as I can see. 

I believe God has placed that same draw to a real love in each and everyone of us. We are learning what counterfeit love looks and feels like and are beginning to reject that kind of love in our lives. Sure it is hard to see all the evil that our free will can create but I'm starting to believe that real love is worth the possibility of some to misuse the power of choice in ways that can cause damage in our society. 

Next time you see a news report of some evil exhibited in our world remember where that evil came from. It wasn't God that created that evil it was our free will that made that evil possible. Then thank God for our free will. 

It is what makes love possible in a way that allows love to be something worth taking chances for. It is why God has taken a chance on you and on me. He believes that our love for Him is worth the possibility that we will choose to turn away from Him. What a wild and risky strategy God is applying in our lives. Yet, without the risk of evil, the reward of a real love through choice wouldn't ever be a possibility for God or for those of us He calls His Children. Real love is what makes it possible for us to live this life as the victors God's love has spoken into our lives. Choose love and bask in the power of relating to a God that chooses to love you.