Love Does

I had no idea who Bob Goff was when he was introduced to Convocation. Before he came, our campus pastor told us that whenever he came, students would always want him to stay forever and become their grandfather. I was dubious, of course – how could someone leave that much of an impact?

After hearing him speak, I wanted him to stay and become one of his honorary grandchildren.

So how does someone leave such an impact in such a short time?

The answer is simple: Love Does.

Love Does

He was a big man, towering over David Nasser by several inches. Just as big as he was, though, was his wide smile that told you, “This world is a great place.” Bob Goff took the stage and captured our attention completely for his entire time of speaking.

If you’ve never heard of him, Bob Goff loves to have fun. In preparing for him coming, LU bought him enough gumballs to fill a bathtub – and that’s exacctly what they did. Bob appreciated the sentiment (and I can imagine his grin being even wider as he laughed at the sight), but told them that he didn’t want to have all the gumballs for himself. So, the team went back out and bought even more gumballs, enough that each student in attendance could have two. One gumball was for us to enjoy. The second was to give to someone that we didn’t want to be nice to, but knew we should.

Throughout his talk, he regaled us with his stories – the man has a lot of them – and even though he was on a stage, it felt as casual as if he was talking to each of us directly. Afterwards, I felt like do after a good meal. I’m satisfied, but I can’t wait to have more the next time.

My next time came in August of 2019, when I finally got his book (also titled Love Does) out of the library. (I only know this date because my e-reader told me). It’s not a hard read, and when all is said and done, is a lot of fun.

But when all is said and done, you find yourself sitting and thinking hard of what Bob Goff challenges you to do. Love Does, Bob Goff says, is exactly that.

Love is an action, so take that action, no matter how audacious or crazy it may look from the outside. In other words, love pushes you to into action – love does.

Two stories from the book stick out in my memory of examples of this kind of love. The first is the story of when Bob decided to run off camping. He stopped at a mentor’s house before he did, and explained what he was going to do. The other guy said, “Wait here,” then got his stuff and joined Bob on his adventure. Only later did Bob realize that his friend had just recently gotten married, and had left his newlywed wife to be with Bob in this formative time.

Why? Because love does.

The second isn’t a story, but something that Bob Goff has become well known for. On the last page of the book, he left his phone number for anyone to take and call him. I still have it in my phone – I haven’t called him yet, but maybe one of these days, I’ll get enough courage to.

What It Means for Us

When I say Love Does, I don’t mean that I expect you to leave your newlywed spouse to take a trip with a young adult who needs love, or give out your phone number to the general public, I mean something much more simple.

Going back to what I said last time, “love is in the little things.” In the same way, love does the little things. The simple things. When you start walking in love in the simple and seemingly insignificant aspects of daily life, you prepare yourself for when those big moments occur.

I think there’s a balance here that we shouldn’t forget. I love Josh Wilson’s song, “Dream Small,” which talks about doing the little things, and not thinking that you need to do it all. And he’s not wrong – but the practicality of focusing on the daily living has to be mixed with the realization that it’s okay to have big dreams, and to aspire to do great things for God.

The point, however, is that in both the big and the small things, we say along with the Apostle Paul, “Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 6:14)

How?

First, recognize that you have been loved immeasurably more than you can imagine. So much that God decided that He would take your punishment on Himself, so that you would not have to bear it yourself. More than this, He not only takes our punishment, but He, the God of the Universe, adopts as His sons and daughters (1 John 3:1).

Second, recognize that that very same love has been given to those around you. Everyone on Earth has the same opportunity to be brought into God’s family.

Once you recognize both of these, let God show His love to others through you. Ask Him to give you the eyes to see how much He loves others, and to give you the heart to love others just like He does.

Then, live it out. Let your love of others and your faith in God lead you to what you’re supposed to do. Love Does, and “They will know you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35).

(Listen to Dream Small, by Josh Wilson here – Lyric Video. If you want to read Love Does, you can use your public library, support booksellers by using AbeBooks.com or Alibris.com, or you can by a copy on Amazon. You can also do research to find local booksellers to support! Finally, check out Love Does, the organization that Bob Goff founded)