Love DoesI am a fan of Donald Miller. From his blog and other interactions, I learned about Bob Goff and his book. When BookSneeze® offered it as an option, I grabbed the opportunity to read Love Does.

Love Does is a book of short stories woven together in a fun and inspiring way. It is an easy read, which doesn’t mean it lacks in relevance. It is hugely pertinent to the way we live our life, and Bob Goff serves as a great role model of how to embrace life fully.

Here are the three things I learned from Bob Goff and Love Does.

1 – Pull life’s threads.

“It’s about going to extremes and expressing the bright hope that life offers us, a hope that makes us brave and expels darkness with light. That’s what I want my life to be all about – full of abandon, whimsy, and in love.” (page 24)

There are many seemingly random things falling into our lives, and we can choose to ignore them or take them on. Too often, we select the first option. In doing this, we may miss the opportunities to really experience life fully and differently. We need to pull the threads of our life story more often. Bob Goff’s stories enlighten and enliven what life can offer.

2 – Mistakes shape life usefully.

“And for me, I’ve realized that I used to be afraid of failing at the things that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” (page 30)

I love this quote! It is the trap or danger of succeeding at things that don’t matter. It is so very easy to step into this snare and be pulled away from doing our more purposeful activities. Doing this may create mistakes, but these shape us more fully.

As Bob Goff says, it isn’t about the “fold-over” mistakes; it is about what shapes us, ultimately, into “human origami” in which “the more creases we have, the better.” We need to do what matters, no matter if mistakes happen along the way. It is what will leave a better mark.

3 – Live life based on a philosophy.

“What I noticed, though, is almost every time I type the word love, it gets changed to the word live… I learned that fully loving and fully living are not only synonymous but the kind of life that Jesus invited us to be part of.” (page 16)

Whether Bob Goff would call this a philosophy or not, he has pursued his life centered on love and embracing love as a verb. It is an act of doing, living fully. Basing our life on a philosophy changes how each day is lived, I believe. For me, reading Love Does brings home this fact completely. Bob Goff shows how it can be done.

Love Does delivers a message of acceptance, living to make a difference, and loving each opportunity and what it brings to us and our greater community. You can feel Bob Goff’s warmth throughout the book and, ultimately, he inspires us to act with the love inside us.