“I just want people to know that God loves them,” Kathie emphasizes. “Like God flat out loves them, just like they are,” she continues. Despite her years of fame as an Emmy-winning television co-host, playwright, producer, singer, songwriter, actress, author, Kathie’s response to a pandemic-ridden, politically weary, anxiety-filled, and socially divided world is that it’s never too late to feel, share, and embrace God’s love. “I’ve had all the fame and fortune in this world, but God keeps filling up my coffers [a small chest for holding valuable] for his kingdom work. I mean, we can never love more than God, but that’s what every day of your life should manifest,” she explains. To do that though, we’ve got to put aside our feelings and trust God’s plan, which Kathie’s one of the primary messages of Kathie’s newest book, It’s Never Too Late: Make The Next Act of Your Life The Best Act of Your Life.

“It’s not a how-to book in the classic form,” Kathie admits. “If I were to write a book on how to have a happy life, I’d say: wake up, thank Jesus, love Jesus all day long, say goodnight to Jesus, and repeat. It would be a very short book,” she acknowledges, laughing out loud. “But if people can be blessed by what I share and be encouraged by the encouragement I got from others and the stories I tell, if people can cry tears with me and see how I got through something because of God’s faithfulness, maybe they’ll trust Him too. And that’s what I want from this book. I just want people to know that they don’t have to clean up their act for Him. Just reach out, grab His hand and never let go.”

But life, experiences, feelings, pervasive thoughts, and people can make feeling, sharing, and embracing God’s love seem like an impossible task. Kathie reminds us that it isn’t. In fact, accepting, sharing, and replicating God’s unconditional love is the key to the thriving, purpose-filled life we all crave. We don’t have to be perfect to live out that calling, but we do have to be intentional.

We have to be intentional about remaining close to God, loving people that rub us the wrong way, and trusting God when we feel purposeless, anxious, and uncertain.

We Feel God’s Love By Getting Close To Him

Thanks to social distancing, cancel culture, and social media comparison, most of us are lonelier than we’ve ever been. But God has not forsaken or abandoned us. He’s right here with us, waiting for us to feel His love more deeply than ever before. “If you don’t feel close to God anymore,” Kathie says, “it’s not because God moved away from you. He can’t do that. He won’t do that. You’ve moved away from him,” she explains. “But it’s never too late to move back.”

Just be a child of God and talk to you Father. Call Him Abba. It’s the Aramic word for daddy. God loves you. Just crawl up into His lap. Let Him wrap you in His arms. Cry on His chest. Feel His heartbeat and let Him hold you back to life. Let Him love you back to life,” she advises. “I’m telling you, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.”

“No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, turn around and go back to God. He’s waiting for you. He loves you unconditionally.” And once we’ve been loved back to life, joy, and peace of mind, we should share that love with others.

We Share God’s Love By Talking To Others As We Live Life

“God loves everything He’s ever created and every person He’s ever made,” Kathie declares. “If we don’t tell them that, they will die without experiencing God’s love. We are to manifest that love everyday of our lives. You and I ain’t here to win Emmys. We’re not here to gain money for our bank accounts,” she divulges, explaining that our highest, most ultimate purpose is to point people to God regardless of our age, gender, location, or occupation.

“I can’t tell you how many times…I’ve lost track of how many Uber drivers my friend Angie and I have to Jesus just because they’re there driving us around and they start talking to us. Even that can be a type of ministry. We could be chatting about nonsense in the back and not even know the name of the person that’s driving us around, but God knows his or her name. God loves them. And that’s a divine alignment of assignment,” Kathie affirms. “There’s nothing random with God. In the Hebrew language, there isn’t even a word for coincidence,” she points out. But too often we let our earthly feelings stop us from sharing God’s love.

“If you hate somebody, you don’t love God,” Kathie asserts. “I’m sorry, but if you say you hate someone then you’re living a lie because God is love and love can not live alongside hatred. Love knocks hatred away. So if you’ve got hatred in your heart, you need to check yourself, not the people you hate. If not, that hate is going to destroy you. It’s going to eat away at you like cancer. You may not have physical cancer, but if you hate someone, you’ve got a malignancy of the soul and it will destroy you.”

She continues: “am I perfect? No way. But I do know what I’m on this planet for and like I said, it aint to win Emmys,” she concludes. She’s here, you’re here, and we’re here to win souls, even when it isn’t easy. “All we can do is love people. And I’ll tell you that [sometimes] that takes up all my energy because a lot of them are not very loveable, but God still calls us to love them,” she insists. God also wants us to trust Him.

We Embrace God’s Love By Trusting Him With Our Lives

We all experience ups and downs in life. But through it all, God wants us to trust Him in every season. When Kathie left Good Morning America most people assumed she was retiring and that her career was over. But in actuality, she was waiting on God to show her what He wanted her to do next.

“Nobody in the Bible ever retired,” Kathie reveals. “That was unheard of. They died doing what God called them to do. So I have that attitude about my life. Why wouldn’t I continue to write while I still have a fine mind and a sharp wit? Why should I stop now? I am just now reaching I think the most creative time in my life,” she exclaims. “So I just get up in the morning and say: okay, Lord, where to today? From my rabbinical studies in Israel I’ve learned that you never ask the rabbi where He’s going to take you that day. You just follow along in his footsteps,” she stresses, emphasizing that Jesus is her rabbi.

“A lot of God’s promises come through waiting,” Kathie shares. “But if God speaks it, it shall come to pass. We just have to trust it,” she challenges. “We all want evidence [that God is real and that He’s working]. Well, look at the sunrise. There’s your evidence of God’s love. Look at a sunset. Look at a baby smiling. Look at a bird. Look at the flowers. God’s love is evident everywhere we look,” she reminds us. Our job is to have faith, hold on to His promises, and trust His plan.

Our God Is Never Late

Today’s world can have us questioning our faith, doubting God’s love, and wondering if God has a plan. But our God is never late. And it’s not too late for us to feel, share, and embrace God’s love. God can use any season of life for His glory. And as Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 3:1,  “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Now is the time for us to feel, share, and trust God’s never-ending love.

About the Author

Kathie Lee Gifford, four-time Emmy Award winner, is best known for her eleven years cohosting the popular fourth hour of the Today show alongside Hoda Kotb. Gifford continues to pursue her dreams as an actress, singer, songwriter, playwright, producer, and most recently, director. She has authored numerous books, including her most recent children’s book, The Gift That I Can Give, and four New York Times bestselling books, including The Rock, the Road, the Rabbi and her most recent It’s Never Too Late: Make the Next Act of Your Life the Best Act of Your Life (available on Amazon).