‘Love Does’: Lessons from Bob Goff

Not long ago, I finished this gem of a book, and I must say not only is it an easy read but an inspirational one. From page one, I had to grab a notebook and pen because it is filled with such good stuff. I highly recommend you read it for yourself, but I’ll share a little taste of it with you now.

When I finished the book and looked over my notes, I found myself with four themes: love, language, worry less and start doing.

Love

Given that it’s literally in the title, this one is obvious, but the way that Bob portrays love in this book takes it to another level. There’s the love you read about in books, and then there’s the love of God and right in the middle is the love that Bob lives out in his life. I place Bob’s love in the middle because he aspires to love like God does, but being human and flawed, it cannot always fully express itself, and it can grow tired, unlike God’s love.

Bob describes love as a blind pursuit that never ends; it is unspoken and shown through acts and sacrifices, much like faith is. The love he describes is not always seen, but when it is, it’s breathtaking. He describes love as our only weapon because it draws people in and gets under the skin in a way nothing else can.

To end this section on love, I’ll leave you with this little nugget – when it comes to matters of the heart, the place doesn’t matter.

Language

It’s said that a picture paints a thousand words, but I believe body language can say even more. In this book, Bob briefly mentions the importance of body language. He says that when our palms are facing up, it shows we have nothing to hide and are being honest and vulnerable. It strikes me that when we worship or pray, our palms are often in that position; in those moments, we are most connected with our Creator.

And while Bob may not have connected it, he mentions a couple of other things which I have related to body language. The first thing is humility; the context is Bob advising that it is okay to do things in secret and not feel you have to tell the world what you are doing at all times. The second thing is to watch out for fake people, particularly those who lie about their faith. I’ve placed these under language because body language really does tell all; even a good liar can be exposed by someone with a keen eye. For example, an arrogant person will stand out from the crowd with confidence and desire to be seen, while a humble person is likelier to slip under the radar. Another example is that a person lying about their faith will start off with confidence, but the more questions they are faced with that they cannot answer will start cracking their façade, and you’ll be able to see the anxiety in their eyes.

Bob says a lot more about words’ power, which I can sum up in a sentence. Words are powerful; they can be used to save a life or destroy it, support and encourage or bring down. The point is that we take the words we speak for granted and can never tell how the other person will take them, so we should always be kind. Words of kindness, encouragement and love, they endure inspire and challenge us to be better people. I know this myself because despite being in my twenties, I still remember the words of a teacher many years ago who had encouraged my dream of writing by telling me the short story I had written for class had the potential to be so much more.

Speak kindness and positivity, do not let your negative thoughts flow out from your mouth.

Worry Less

There are many good reasons we should worry less, mainly because worrying and stress harms our health, but when we know God, we shouldn’t worry because He has everything under His control.

It is hard to stop stressing, and it takes time before we can relinquish all control and trust God, but we must, for His timing is perfect. Humans can mistake what we want for things we need; with God in control, He can provide us with all we truly need, so we have nothing to fear. When God wants something to happen, we can do nothing to stop it; He can open the right doors and close all the wrong ones to keep us where He wants us and when He wants us to do something we don’t want to or seems unusual it is best to just go with it because there is always a purpose in His design. Something extraordinary could happen.

We don’t need to worry about the size of our faith; whether strong or weak, God can strengthen and use our weaknesses for good. Jesus takes our faith for what it is, and according to Matthew 17:20, faith as small as a mustard seed has the power to move mountains; if a small faith has that much power, think how powerful God is that He created everything. He doesn’t think any less of us when things go wrong because He wants us to be our true selves – flaws included and just because we make mistakes doesn’t mean God is angry at us. He just wants the best for us and will be there to help us heal.

A relationship with Jesus doesn’t have to make sense or provide security for it is outside our comfort zone that our faith will grow. God does not give us a map for our lives but He does provide recommendations on how to live in the Bible. There is no formula to follow, all we need is His love, forgiveness and guidance on the direction our lives should go.

Our trials will shape and strengthen us no matter where they take us.

You may worry about your prayers not being answered or that God is not listening to you, but let me reassure you that He is. Trust in His timing; it simply may not be the right time or the answer you are expecting. It could also be that you are refusing to hear what you don’t want to hear because, let’s be honest, we can all be a little selective in what we choose to hear sometimes.

God is with us in our failures and successes, which ties up this section neatly because when we know this, the fears that hold us back become loose and encourage us to take more risks. He encourages us to make an effort and do more because He can turn every mistake into good.

Start Doing

We’ve discussed worrying less, as hard as it is, and now it’s time to get into action because God does not call us to sit and do nothing. He wants us actively share our faith with others and plant seeds for Him to grow in the hearts of others. God does not call the qualified. He calls the least likely people who will have the most significant impact. We may fail, but that only teaches us to rely on Him more. We are invited by God to chase after the dreams He has given us and to live a life that is engaged with the people around us so that we can show His love in action.

We were created to stand out, not blend in, and in every situation, we ought to put God first as He is our Saviour, Creator, and Father. God has invited us to more will you accept the invitation?

To bring this post to a close I will end with a few final reminders from Bob.

God is good all the time.

It is okay to be dependent on others; everyone has different challenges to face, and it is okay if you cannot be independent. We were made to live in community, not alone.

You become like the people you hang out with, so be cautious of who you let into your life and be aware of their actions because a friend doesn’t just say things; a friend does.

Inactive love isn’t really love at all; it’s just a shadow of the real thing. Real love is moving and active like God shows us.

Love Does has inspired and challenged me, it has caused me to question all the relationships in my life and if I am really showing love to the people that I care about. I am going to leave you with two questions that challenged me in this book:

What can you do to show love?

What were you made to do that you’ve let the world hold you back from?

Let me know your answers in the comments.