Receiving God’s Love: The Prodigal Son and the Good Life | Ep 136

Why is receiving God’s love so hard?In Episode 136, Brian continues Season 7, Deep Calls to Deep, by exploring one of the central questions of the journey into depth: if God is constantly inviting us into the Good Life, why do so few of us actually experience it?This episode suggests that the doorway into the with-God life is not more striving, better behavior, or additional information. It is vulnerability. Drawing from David Benner, Dallas Willard, the six core ideas, and the Soil & Roots framework of unconscious formation, Brian argues that genuine transformation begins when we allow ourselves to be loved unconditionally by God.But receiving God’s love is not as easy as it sounds. Brian names four obstacles that often keep us guarded: our need for control, our avoidance of pain, our sense of unworthiness, and our mistrust of God’s character. These obstacles are not merely intellectual doubts. They are rooted in the deeper ideas of our hearts — our unconscious assumptions about power, anthropology, value, and identity.The Prodigal Son becomes the episode’s central case study. The younger son leaves home, seeks control, avoids pain, distorts his value, and rejects his identity as a son. But suffering awakens him. When he returns, the father runs to him, embraces him, interrupts his speech, restores him, and throws a party.The most astonishing part is that the son receives it.This is the beginning of the Good Life: not earning love, explaining ourselves, managing sin, or proving our worth, but vulnerably receiving the prodigal love of the Father.Join us online! Web: ⁠⁠https://soilandroots.org⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠ https://soilandroots.substack.com/