Forrest Gump

Last weekend some friends came over and we had our usual discussion on what movie to watch. One of the options was Forrest Gump. While this was not the final movie chosen, my mind has wandered back several times this week to that movie, one of my favorites.

I remember being told by my earthly dad that after seeing the movie, he went out and wept. I found that surprising, for he was rarely one to admit or show that particular emotion. I have thought a lot about what it was in that movie that made him weep and, while this isn’t the primary purpose of my post, I think the reason was because Gump just by being himself made such an impact. I think there is a desire there in his heart to do something “big” for God and I think it pained him to see a story about one who just by being a genuine person was so huge.

How sad that makes me, for I don’t think God is about being “big” or how much of an impact we have on this earth. For Him, I think it about cause, rather than effect. What are the motives of my heart? God would rather me reach out in His love to one person than preach a sermon of judgment where hundreds of consciences are pricked. The least in the kingdom will be the greatest, Christ taught. The small, insignificant things I do just might be mountains in God’s eyes. And those big things I am so proud of probably don’t mean much to Him. I am saddened because the very thing he yearns for he already has, he just can’t accept it.

For me, and I think for so many others, the main reason the movie made such a powerful impression and why we love it so much is because it is the picture of unconditional love. After seeing the movie, I too wept, but not because of the impact Forrest made. What I yearned for was that kind of love, the unconditional love and acceptance. And I find myself walking in the same shoes as my earthly father – yearning for something I already have. Because unconditional love is found in my Heavenly Father.

Perhaps one of the mistakes we make, I know I do, is to try to picture God’s love like the love I experience here on earth. That picture cannot be any further from the truth! How often I forget that God who cannot be measured, who made a universe that still is not measured, must also have a love that is not measurable. How often the scripture talks about God’s love and how many times I glance over it with a “that’s nice” thought.

Do I find myself refusing His love like Jenny: “You don’t want to marry me”, “You can’t keep trying to rescue me”? We watch in the movie as Jenny searches high and low for something, someone who will accept and love her and will make her happy, and it is right in front of her the entire time! How happy (and tearful) was I when finally she surrendered to his love:

Jenny: “Why are you so good to me?”
Forrest “You’re my girl.”
Jenny: “I’ll always be your girl.”

Why is God so good to me, so good to you? Because I’m His boy and you’re His boy or girl – and you’ll always be His. How difficult it is to surrender to unconditional love because it is so hard to unconditionally accept it. Just as Forrest loved Jenny because of who he was, so God loves you and I because of who He is.

I find in my own life that it is difficult to accept God’s unconditional love for me because I don’t love other people unconditionally. I judge God’s love in the light of my own – and how shallow I am! I think the real truth is – only as we surrender to God’s unconditional love are we ever able to start loving other people unconditionally. In first John, it is written that “We love because He first loved us.” I can respond in love to Him and others only because He made the first move, He first loved me and you.