God Doesn’t Just Love You—He Likes You

Sound doctrine isn't meant to make us anxious about God's love; it's meant to anchor us securely in it, leading us to rest, peace, and happiness.

The Type-A in me struggles to believe this wonderful statement from a good friend of mine:

“God does not love you to the degree that you are like Jesus. Rather, God loves you to the degree that you are in Jesus. And that’s 100 percent.”

- Rankin Wilbourne

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38–42 resonates deeply with Type-A personalities like me—those of us who instinctively lean toward striving for favor rather than abiding in the favor we already have through our union with Christ. Martha, restless and overwhelmed by her tasks, is often cast as the classic overachiever: all work, no pause, blind to the beauty unfolding right in front of her. In contrast, Mary, having stepped away from her responsibilities, sits serenely at Jesus’ feet, soaking in His every word, unhurried and unbothered.

If we’re honest, many of us can’t help but relate to Martha’s frustration—or even share her resentment toward the Marys in our lives. We work hard. We show up. We shoulder the burdens and keep the wheels turning, while Mary-types seem to lounge in stillness, content to simply be. As we labor, they bask. And as we burn ourselves out trying to earn recognition, they seem to receive effortlessly the very affirmation we secretly crave. After all, shouldn’t we—the ones carrying the load—be the ones receiving the praise?

Martha, Martha…
Mary has chosen what is better,
and it will not
be taken
from her.

What is the “better thing” that Mary chose?

She chose belief over effort. Saving faith over hurried good works. Resting and receiving over striving and performing. Delight over duty.

Mary didn’t need to work to earn Jesus’ approval—and neither do we. Mary understood this, as we can too, because before Mary got busy for Jesus (and yes, she did get busy for Jesus), she first took time to stop, to pay attention, and to saturate her whole being in something foundational…

…doctrine.

Wait, doctrine? Really?

Yes—doctrine.

It should give us pause when this essential part of following Jesus is downplayed or dismissed. And yet, we hear it said in various ways: “I want a love affair with God, not theology. I want a faith that feels and a love that acts. Don’t give me doctrine… just give me Jesus.”

But here’s the thing: When Mary sought an encounter with Jesus, what did He give her?

He gave her doctrine.

Mary sat at His feet, and she listened—not to affirmations or sentimental platitudes, but to His teaching.

Because you cannot truly love God with your hands, your feet, or your heart until you first learn to love Him with your mind.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:38-39).

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

In our sincere and legitimate desire to encounter Jesus, we must pursue that encounter through avenues like prayer, worship, community, and service—but always with a foundation that is grounded in the truth revealed to us in Scripture. The Bible, in many ways, is our modern equivalent of Mary’s place at Jesus’ feet.

Loving God with all our heart and soul and loving Him with our minds are not opposing pursuits; they are two sides of the same coin. True faith embraces both. The way to avoid a dry, Pharisaical religion is not by neglecting truth in favor of grace, nor by emphasizing grace at the expense of truth. It is by holding tightly to both, ensuring that neither is left behind.

As an older mentor once put it: doctrine is like the skeleton of our faith. A skeleton is essential to hold up and support the rest of the body. Without it, the body collapses. But if the skeleton is the only thing you see when looking at the body, something is terribly wrong—it means the body is either malnourished or dead.

The same is true of doctrine. If doctrine is all that is visible in our Christianity—if it overshadows grace, love, and the fruit of the Spirit—then our faith is malnourished or dead.

But for Mary, it was the “skeleton” of sound doctrine—the true-to-Scripture teaching she absorbed at Jesus’ feet—that became her foundation. It was His teaching that gave her faith its structure, its strength, and its ability to move. At His feet, Mary was prepared for action: the nerve endings, muscles, and skin of her faith were formed so that she could carry out her calling in the world with grace and might.

And it was there, at Jesus’ feet and nowhere else, that Mary learned the truth that undergirds all faith: that she was deeply and dearly loved.

But Mary learned something else, something that often goes unspoken yet changes everything. At Jesus’ feet, she discovered that Jesus didn’t just love her—He liked her.

And that changes everything. As Brennan Manning put it, when you truly know you are liked by God, it transforms your outlook on just about everything:

“Tenderness awakens within the security of knowing
we are thoroughly and sincerely liked by someone.
The mere presence of that special someone
brings an inward sigh of relief and
a strong sense of feeling safe.”

Brennan Manning is simply echoing the truths of Scripture. The Bible reminds us that, in Christ, we are the apple of God’s eye. He takes great delight in us, rejoices over us with singing, and cherishes us with the tender affection of a bridegroom for his bride. Scripture assures us that nothing in all creation—not height or depth, not life or death—can ever separate us from His love (Psalm 17:8; Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 62:5; Romans 8:38-39).

What if we really believed this?

Seriously. Stop for a moment. Pause. Think about it.

What if we really, truly believed that God—through the generous love and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus—deeply likes and enjoys us? What if we believed that, in God’s sight, we have nothing left to prove? That being loved by Him isn’t something we earn—it’s where we start?

What if we believed that, more than anything else we could do, God wants us to rest in and receive the finished work of Jesus? What if we really let it sink in that God is quite fond of us—and that nothing we’ve ever done or ever will do could change that?

For the Martha in us—that tired, striving, worn-out part of us that is endlessly trying to prove our worth to God, to others, and to ourselves—what if we started somewhere else?

What if we started here: at the place of resting in the love God says He has for us? What if we began by believing that what Jesus says about us is already true—that God the Father loves us just as much as He loves God the Son?

What if we really embraced the reality that, in Jesus, we already have it all? It’s as if we’ve already won the Pulitzer Prize, the Grammy, and been named Parent of the Year. It’s as if we have more “Likes” and “Follows” than Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber combined—because in the eyes of the One who matters most, we are infinitely and eternally cherished.

As it says in The Book, as we learn with Mary at Jesus’ feet...

“Surely goodness and mercy
will follow me
all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).

If we started here—receiving the hospitality of Jesus at His Table, sitting at His feet, and simply being with Him—over time, something beautiful might begin to happen. We might discover that, slowly but surely, we’ve become more like Him.

Because…

“To see the Law by Christ fulfilled,
to hear his pardoning voice
turns the slave into a child
and duty into choice.”

So let’s find both our rest and our resolve right there, at the feet of Jesus.

Shall we?

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Some of Scott’s most popular, widely-shared posts:

Weeping in Nashville
That Time R.C. Sproul Said He Wouldn’t See Billy Graham in Heaven
An Atheist Gives Sound Advice to Christians
Once Upon a Time, Tolkien Felt Like a Failure
Remembering Tim Keller

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